


An Improbable Child

by Azure_K_Mello



Series: Point Oh Oh Six [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Tony Stark, Gen, Kid Fic, Parent Tony Stark, Therapy, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22264411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azure_K_Mello/pseuds/Azure_K_Mello
Summary: When used correctly, the combination of a condom and the pill offers 99.994% protection from pregnancy. When Tony finds out that that .006% can be very real, he decides to get his life together. Edwin Anthony Stark is Tony's chance to break the cycle and have a happy Stark heir.A retelling of Iron Man II if Tony were in a healthy state of mind.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Janice Cord/Tony Stark (past), Pepper Potts & Tony Stark
Series: Point Oh Oh Six [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602685
Comments: 23
Kudos: 317
Collections: Awesome parent tony Stark, Not to be misplaced





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be updated on Mondays and is the first in a series.

Really, Tony wasn’t surprised when it happened. If felt overdue. He was sitting in his workshop, happily working on Mark III, putting Obadiah and Afghanistan behind him. The company was slowly starting to right itself: no more weapons, all green power and fun tech. He had just started to sleep through the night again. His life felt good and purposeful for the first time in years.

JARVIS said, “Sir, I hate to interrupt.”

“Then don’t. I’m increasing the output of the arc reactor; it’s tricky work.”

“Ms. Janice Cord is at the front door.”

Tony smiled, as far as his affairs went, his time with Janice had been fun: four months with someone interesting, beautiful, witty and smart. They had known each other since they were kids, and it had been a good relationship. But with the pressures of his work and hers, they had broken up amicably about two months before his horrific stay in the desert. She had sent him flowers when he’d come home, but he’d been a little too busy with Obadiah and the company to respond. “What does Janice want?” he asked.

Though he meant it rhetorically, JARVIS answered, “Judging from her abdomen, to discuss joint custody or perhaps a paternity test.”

Tony put down his spanner, “Who won in the illegitimate baby pool? Me, Happy, Rhodey or Pep?”

“Happy. And might I say, sir, I think it’s quite disturbing that you put money on the appearance of an illegitimate child.”

“I had skin in the game,” replied Tony, wiping his hands clean and then taking the stairs two at a time. He opened the front door saying, “Hi, Janice.”

“Tony, it’s good to see you,” her smile was always striking, one of the prettiest Tony had ever seen.

“Come in,” he said, waving inside. “Sorry that I’m filthy. I was working.”

“I’m used to you being covered in oil.”

He smiled and, ushering her into the living room, said, “Drink?”

She pointed at her stomach, “This isn’t a food baby.”

With a shrug, Tony said, “I have a lot of drinks that aren’t alcohol. Sparkling water, maybe?”

“Sure,” she agreed with a nod.

He poured two glasses, wanting to keep a clear mind. “So is this just a social visit? Because I’m doing mental math over here.”

“Seven months,” she said.

“Wow.”

“I didn’t know when we broke up. I realized that I had missed a couple of periods while you were missing. It was kind of… it was terrible. I’m glad you’re alive.”

He smiled, “Me too.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling you,” she said.

“But,” he prompted.

She took a sip of her water and said, “I believe that women have control over what happens to their body. I didn’t want to be pregnant. I was well within the window to abort. I am not a mother, nor do I wish to be. But… we used two forms of protection. And with the pill and a condom — I looked it up — this had a point oh oh six percent chance of happening. And I just thought, well, this parasite exists against all the odds. So, I kept the pregnancy. But I’m not keeping the baby. I was just going to write ‘father unknown’ and sign away parental rights. You’re a hard-drinking, immature, self-involved weapons manufacturer,” she said, and he nodded.

“I wasn’t gonna bring this anywhere near you," she continued. "You wouldn’t want it, and, if you did, it would have ended terribly. But you shut down the weapons, and you aren’t partying and you’ve been doing some really amazing things as Iron Man. And I just thought, maybe you’ve grown up, maybe you want to be a dad, maybe you’re ready for this. So it’s up to you, you can sign away your rights, and I can pick the adoption agency. Or you can have a kid. Either way, I’m not involved. I am not this baby’s mother. To me, it is a parasite that has stopped my glass of wine with dinner, gives me horrible heartburn and makes me pee every twenty minutes. It’s not my baby, but maybe it’s yours.”

A million voices spoke in Tony’s head. Some were saying that Howard was a horrible dad and Tony would be too. Some said that Howard was a horrible dad and Tony would never make the same mistakes. Some talked about how it put the fun life on ice. Some talked about giving up drinking. He heard Papa Don’t Preach in the back of his mind, and he thought of tiny fingers and having a friend he got to call his baby. Aloud, he said, “In Afghanistan, in the cave, I kept thinking that the only lasting marks I had left on the world were weapon scars, burnt earth and dead bodies. I don’t want to give up my baby. That’s my baby.”

She smiled, “Okay. So, a lawyer I spoke to wanted me to do a paternity test.”

“We don’t need a paternity test. I’ve known you since I was eight. You wouldn’t lie, and, as short as our relationship was, we were faithful.”

“I know that, and you know that, but apparently we should have it on paper,” said Janice.

“Okay, so do we have to wait until there’s a baby?”

“No, they would draw my blood and take a swab from your cheek.”

“Do you want a sandwich? If they’re going to take your blood, I wouldn’t want you to faint.”

With a smile, she said, “It’s not that much blood, Tony.” 

“Okay, do you want a sandwich anyway? Have a sandwich, we’ll catch up. I missed you. You look great. I’m sorry you’re in this state that you don’t want to be in, but you look great.”

“You’ve always been charming. I’ve missed you. PB and J?”

“Dating was a bad idea. We’d still be friends,” said Tony. He went to the kitchen, and she followed him as he pulled out everything he needed.

“We are still friends, Tony. I didn’t visit after Afghanistan because I didn’t want you to see this,” she pointed at her abdomen.

“So you’re friends with a hard-drinking, immature, self-involved weapons manufacturer?”

“Obviously,” she said.

“I’m sorry you’re pregnant. But am I allowed to be excited about being a dad?”

“Yeah, you’re gonna be a good dad. Look at you: making PB and Js.”

“I didn’t think you liked PB and Js,” admitted Tony. “I offered you them after sex; you always said no.”

“Such a gentleman,” she agreed. “I’m not allowed fish, or soft cheese or cold cuts. I’m on a diet designed to help a parasite.”

“Can we not call my baby a parasite?” he asked as he handed over a plate to her.

“It’s completely dependent on the host and will leach from the host if it doesn’t get what it wants.” She took a bite and shrugged. “A fetus is, by definition, a parasite.”

“Can we just use a pronoun? Please. Do you know the gender?”

“At my last ultrasound, I had the doctor write it down. I was working up the nerve to come see you, but I didn’t want to know.” She retrieved a card from her purse. “Let’s just call it ‘him’ for now, okay? No matter what’s on the card. I don’t want to know.”

Tony paused at the pleading note in her voice, “Am I being unfair? It’s your body. I can call him ‘he’ and you can say ‘it’ and ‘parasite.’ If that’s okay? You’re the one carrying him. You shouldn’t be punished for something you never wanted to do.”

“You’re a feminist,” she said jokingly.

He sniffed, “That’s a weird way to pronounce womanizer.” He took a bite of his own sandwich.

“We’re not going to be friends after I give birth,” she said.

“You don’t hang out with hip single dads?” he was joking, but she didn’t smile.

She shook her head, “Tony, I don’t want anything to do with this baby. I’m the CFO of your biggest tech competitor; we’ll see each other at events, but there won’t be casual sandwiches. If your kid needs a liver, kidney, blood or bone marrow, I’ll help. But other than that, I’m out, consider it a closed adoption.”

“Point oh oh six percent, huh?”

“Don’t be like Howard, Tony, I know it’s not my baby, and it’s not my place to tell you how to be a dad. But, please don’t be like Howard. I hated how he treated you when we were kids.”

“Not as much as I hated it. I’m going to ask myself three questions: what would Howard do; what would Mr. Jarvis do; what would I have wanted? Then I’ll throw the first answer on the fire and see what the other two answers tell me.”

She smiled, “Mr. Jarvis always gave us way too much ice cream.”

“If the baby is a boy, I’m calling him Edwin. I don’t think you name babies after someone to honor them. I think you do it in hopes that the kid will be similar.”

“What about a girl?”

He shrugged, “Edwina?”

“Don’t,” she said with a laugh. 

***

The blood test told Tony he was going to be a dad. And he had already known that, but he waited to tell Pepper. Finally, he said, “Janice Cord came by the other day.”

“How is Janice?” asked Pepper.

“Pregnant with my child.”

She sighed, “Please get a paternity test before doing a settlement.”

“She doesn’t want a settlement, and we already did a paternity test. She’s giving up full custody. She doesn’t even know the gender, I do: she’s having my son.”

She nodded, “Would you like me to look into adoption agencies?”

“No, very much not. JARVIS, can figure out what paint this is?” he pulled up a picture of a nursery with pale violet, almost gray walls. “I want it for Edwin’s nursey.”

“So, you’re keeping the baby?” asked Pepper.

“My son, Edwin, yes.”

“Would you like me to hire a nanny?” 

“No, I ordered a good baby sling. I have already read three of the top ten baby books. I am going to remodel my workshop so it has a play area. I already work from my home workshop nine days out of ten. Edwin isn’t going to have a nanny. He’s going to have a daddy. Miss Potts, you know I adore you. You are phenomenal at your job. You are an amazing friend. You have been an incredible constant in my life for almost two decades, and I like seeing you every day. The question is, can you get on the pro-Edwin train? There is going to be a baby, and you have to be excited. Or, if you’re dreading the prospect, you are a phenomenal PA; I can get you a position anywhere you want. We will still have coffee and lunches; you can still nag me. Edwin’s childhood isn’t going to be like mine. I don’t want him to feel like he’s being inflicted upon the people around him. I grew up in a house where I wasn’t wholly welcome, and it’s very hard. And I adore you, Pep, but this baby is my kid, and this is his home.”

She nodded slowly, “Okay.” She held up a stack of files, “These need signatures by COB. Are you considering a bassinette for your room? I get wanting a nice nursery, but you’re going to want him with you for the first few months at night when he’s waking up every two hours.”

“The books say co-sleeping doesn’t increase SIDS, so he’s going to share my bed until he’s ready for his.”

She smiled, “Great, do you want an interior designer to give you some ideas for the nursery?”

He worried that she would think he was silly, but he never did anything by half measures. “I really want to be hands-on, Pepper. I’ve never painted a wall in my life, but I want to do this correct, right from the start.”

With another nod, she said, “Okay then, if we bump the R&D meeting back two hours tomorrow, we could have four hours mid-morning to hit baby stores and get a mobile and a crib? Sheets? Teddies? Maybe some clothes?”

“All that sounds good. But I do need you to find me a professional: a shrink who is good with PTSD,” he fell silent for a moment, “I’m not over Afghanistan. I just got better at hiding it. And maybe I should talk about Howard. I don’t know… I want to be healthy for Edwin.”

“I will research that and have a name and appointment set up by tomorrow,” offered Pepper.

“You’re a really excellent PA,” he said. “How do you feel about being Aunt Pepper?”

“I can’t wait to meet my nephew,” she said with a smile. She tapped the files. “COB, and it’s not just signatures: read them and understand them.”

“Yes, Miss Potts.”

***

The doctor was likable. Tony had two separate panic attacks talks about the cave, one talking about Obie and still had a hard time expressing his feelings about his dad. But he made some progress. He poured the cheap alcohol in the house down the drain. He kept the good stuff for visitors but dumped the mid-shelf swill he frequently drank out of dirty coffee cups in the workshop at two in the morning. He wasn’t an alcoholic, at least not physically addicted, but he didn’t want that for himself anymore. He set up a weekly appointment with the doctor on an indefinite timeline. The doctor gave him breathing exercises and told him to talk to someone whenever he felt anxious. So, Tony talked about stuff with JARVIS because JARVIS was a great listener. He did his homework with the AI because JARVIS could talk him through the panic attacks and didn’t have a body to try and hug him.

He had a two week, very shallow affair with a hot chemist, knowing that he wouldn’t get laid for a while after Edwin came. Their pillow talk was about their work, their dates were fancy dinners, he didn’t take off his tank top in bed. There was no cuddling on the couch with quiet movies. It was superficial, fun and over in the blink of an eye. She has beautiful eyes and breasts poems could have been written about.

After that break, he had a second two-week affair. This time with a hot biologist, a man who was giving a lecture. Tony brought him a glass of champagne and said, “Do you want to see my lab? And then my bed?”

The man smiled and said, “I would love to.”

In the morning, Pepper brought him a cup of coffee in the lab and said, “Should I call a cab? I didn’t get his suit cleaned. I thought you were going to a lecture? I went home. I didn’t know I was still on the clock.”

“He was the lecturer. He’s not just beautiful: he’s really smart. Don’t worry about his suit. Send it now. I don’t want him gone.” Pepper raised an eyebrow, and Tony said, “You think there is going to be time for dating with a baby? With a toddler? I might not get laid for a couple of years, Pep, let me have a little fun. Except in this situation, it’s not little.” He grinned at his own joke.

Rolling her eyes, Pepper said, “Someday, you’re going to get an assistant who slaps you with a sexual harassment case.”

“Are you leaving me, Miss Potts? You know my world falls to pieces when you leave for more than a vacation.”

She nodded and said, “Good point, I’m taking a vacation before your baby comes.”

“Fair, put it on my credit card: a godlessmother gift.”

Then Tony got wind of a weapons dealer in New York. So far, the man hadn’t done anything significant, but he was building an arsenal. Materials were going missing everywhere; he was working toward something big. Tony called Professor X, his psychiatrist told him he needed to let go a little. Though he could have taken on the madman who had invented flying, semi-autonomous guns, so could the X-Men. He felt proud of himself for letting go a little bit, letting other people run the show. He helped with their research from the comfort of his own workshop.

He was spotted walking out of a Daddy Boot Camp class, and it ended up in the celebrity gossip pages. He put out a statement through Pepper that he was very excited about the upcoming birth of his child. He didn’t go to the press brief, and she didn’t take questions.

***

Janice almost punched Tony in labor, would have if he hadn’t ducked. He went out twice to give his friends and hers updates. Her friends weren’t there for the baby, just Janice. None of them liked him: he was the catalyst for their friend’s unwelcome state. But he was nice, smiley. He gave them updates: she was doing well, stable, kind of drugged up, angry at him. He told Happy, Pepper and Rhodey that Edwin was stable, on his way and that Janice was being a champ.

When she was done, Tony got to hold him, finally looking his son in the eye. He smiled and said, “Hey, baby, I’m Dad. It’s so nice to meet you.” He kissed Edwin gently and held him close. 

“Boy or girl?” asked Janice, having asked the doctor not to say. “I’ll see it in the gossip pages even if you don’t say anything.”

“A boy,” said Tony. “He’s Edwin Anthony Stark. He’s so beautiful, Janice. Do you want to hold him?” She shook her head. The doctor took Edwin to look him over, and Tony asked, “Glass of wine?”

“Are you serious?” asked Janice.

“It’s red because I wasn’t sure I could keep white cold, but I know you’ve been yearning for wine for months.”

“Mr. Stark,” said the doctor as Tony retrieved the bottle from his bag.

“Doc, Janice couldn’t eat or drink anything for the last twelve hours. She’s out of labor, she’s fine. She’s not breastfeeding. And none of the drugs you gave her interact with alcohol. Except for the ‘no operating heavy equipment’ kind of interaction.” He opened the bottle and said, “She’s fine. Let her celebrate the end of her pregnancy with one glass of wine.”

He had already made arrangements for breastmilk for Edwin and to freeze the cord blood as well as Janice’s placenta. The placenta wouldn’t be of use to Edwin, but it could help Janice down the line. She should get something out of her ordeal. It wasn’t a fair trade; he got a son while she got stem cells. Edwin was beautiful. Tony poured her a glass of wine and said, “Here’s to you, Janice. Thank you.”

“You’re going to be a good dad, right?”

“Promise,” he said. The nurse brought Edwin to him, and Tony asked, “All the books say skin to skin contact helps him stay warm and bond. Is that true?”

“Absolutely,” said the nurse, and Tony took off his shirt. He saw the nurse stare at the arc reactor, but he ignored her, moving Edwin to make sure he was on flesh and not the metal and glass.

“Hi, Edwin. That’s a very big name for such a little guy so I think you’re gonna be a Win for now, because that’s a littler name for a littler guy and maybe someday you’ll be a full-fledged Edwin, but don’t be an Ed — Eds are frequently jerks.” Janice laughed, and Tony said, “That nice lady sipping a seventeen-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon just gave birth to you, and she an amazing person.”

“Stop, Tony, I already signed all the papers: he’s not mine.”

Nodding Tony said, “I know. But if you decide you want a place in his life as his birth mother, or his Aunt Janice, or his dad’s cool friend Janice, I’m not going to keep you away.” He cuddled Edwin and waited quietly for Janice’s response.

“Thank you, Tony, but no.” She sighed and said, “Is there any way we could get separate rooms?”

“Sure,” he said, “That’s fine. I’ll come visit you tomorrow?” he knew that they wanted to keep her overnight.

Shaking her head, she said, “I’d rather you didn’t. I’ll let you know if I need you. Okay? I just… I don’t want this, Tony.”

He nodded, he stood with Edwin held close. “Thank you, Janice. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. I promise he’ll have a happy life.”

“I know he will,” said Janice.

As he left with a nurse, he heard Janice say, “Could you please get my friends from the waiting room? I want to drink this wine with someone.”

His heart broke a little for his friend, a woman he’d known since childhood. But as he cuddled his baby, he had a hard time empathizing. She had been through an ordeal, and he was holding a gift. The baby started to fuss as the nurse led him into a beautiful suite. “I’m going to go warm up his bottle,” she said, and Tony nodded his thanks, stroking Edwin’s side.

“Thank you,” he replied. The hospital was gorgeous, a handpicked boutique medical center with great doctors, nurses and staff, and wonderful amenities. He settled into a comfy chair and said, “Win, we’re gonna be the best team ever, and I’m so happy you’re here. You’re my miracle baby. There was only a point oh oh six percent chance of you happening. But here you are, my beautiful boy.” The nurse came back with the bottle, and he thanked her. Win didn’t get confused by the bottle, had no trouble figuring out how to latch on. The books said it could take some coaching, but Win just got onto the job of eating. Tony was pretty sure he was a genius, well developed beyond his peers. 

“I will be back in a little while to check on you. I know you did a pretty extensive parenting class.”

“I did,” he agreed.

She nodded and pointed things out around the room, changing table with supplies, a rocking chair, an assortment of pacifiers that were brand new, sterile and ready to be used. She pointed to a call button, “If you need anything, let us know, if anything is overwhelming, we’re here to help you.”

“Thank you. My friends are out in the waiting room. I’d like for them to come see him.”

“Of course,” said the nurse. “Are you ready for visitors?”

“I am,” answered Tony. “Win’s adoring public awaits. He’s got an aunt and two uncles out there who have been waiting for hours.”

“Okay, I’ll bring them in.”

“Thanks,” he repeated. He looked at the baby and said, “Win, you’re going to meet your Aunt Pepper and Uncles Happy and Rhodey. They all have silly names, but they adore you before even laying eyes on you. And you’re pretty lucky to have such rock stars in your corner.”

There was a very soft knock on the door, and then Rhodey popped his head around the door and said, “Ready for us?”

“Come meet Win,” said Tony. Rhodey opened the door to reveal a massive bunch of balloons. “You got balloons?”

“We brought balloons,” agreed Rhodey.

“And food,” said Pepper.

“You guys are the best,” he said as they settled down around him.

“Can I hold him?” asked Pepper.

“Sorry, no, you can look at him, but they think that a baby’s health and future stability are linked to skin-to-skin contact in the first hour of his life with his mom. But he’s only got a dad, so I’m keeping him skin-to-skin for two hours. Some doctors call it a sacred hour. So, you can look at him, but there will be no holding.”

“He’s got a mom, you don’t have to be a girl to be a mom. He’s got you,” said Happy. “He’s cute, Tony.”

“What a pretty baby,” agreed Rhodey.

Tony smiled at him, and Win looked up at him. “He’s so awesome. Our group got bigger and lamer. I’ve got a baby, you guys. And he’s awesome. You’re awesome, Win.” He looked at the baby and said, “I know that his eyes don’t focus, that colors aren’t processed right now, that he has no idea what I look like, but he can hear my heart, and my voice and knows my smell. And this baby — who can’t really see me, who doesn’t know who I am — is my universe.”

“He knows exactly how you are, Tones: you’re the guy who won’t let his godfather hold him,” said Rhodey.

“You can hold him in about an hour,” said Tony. “And you know I’m not doing the religious mumbo jumbo. But, you should totally get him a gift.”

“Does he really need another silver spoon?” asked Rhodey, making Tony laugh.

Edwin looked shocked at the vibrations, and Tony said, “That’s your daddy laughing; I do that a lot. Get used to the vibrations, baby.” Edwin finished his bottle and looked at Tony. “Are you still hungry? Being born is really hard, isn’t it?” Looking to the grownups, he said, “Can someone hit the call button for the nurse and ask for more milk, please?”

Just as Happy was standing, the nurse came in, and Tony smiled, “Hi, I was just about to call. He finished his bottle.”

“He finished four ounces?” repeated the nurse.

“Yeah, do you think he needs another bottle?” asked Tony, seeking advice from the professional. She talked about the signs of hunger. He didn’t seem hungry, so Tony moved to burp him.

She checked Edwin’s vitals and said, “He’s doing really well. He is a pretty baby.”

“Thanks,” said Tony.

“Ms. Cord does not want her name on the birth certificate,” said the nurse, “but the paperwork is done. We’d like to go over it with you? Maybe the next time I come in to check on Win?”

“Sure, thanks,” said Tony, feeling his heart clench at the idea of an empty space on the document.

Once the woman was gone, Pepper held a doughnut for Tony to eat because he needed both hands for Edwin. Eventually, he handed Edwin to Rhodey, saying, “Win, this is your godlessfather.”

“Hi, Win,” said Rhodey. “I’m James Rhodes, but you can call me Uncle Rhodey. You’re going to have an awesome life.”

***

When Edwin fell asleep, Tony sent out a single Tweet, which would act as the only birth announcement. Tony didn’t want official baby pictures or any of that crap. He didn’t even want to share a photo of any sort yet, professional or otherwise. It was just text and under one hundred and forty characters.

“Edwin Anthony Stark was born at 7:05 pm. 7 lb 8 oz, 19 inches. #HealthyBaby #AbsolutelyBeautiful #LoveOfMyLife”

***

Aunt Peggy flew out a few days later to hold Edwin. Edwin had taken to pacifiers, and Peggy called it a dummy.

“That’s adorable,” said Tony, “and that’s what we’re calling it. I have DUM-E, and he’s got a dummy.”

“It’s what the English call it,” said Peggy.

“My parents didn’t have anything cutesy; I’m appropriating others’ cutesiness.”

“Your mother was very cutesy; your father pushed it out of her. I’m glad to lend you my few cutesy tendencies.”

“Family isn’t blood, Peggy. My doctor’s been helping me a lot, realizing important stuff that I should have known for a long time. When he gets older, he’s going to have questions about family. Can I call you his Grandma Peggy? Mom would have been a wonderful grandma, but she isn’t here.”

She smiled, “I’d rather be Nanny. Nanny is warmer than Grandma.”

“Thank you,” said Tony.

“No, Tony, I get to be someone’s nan, that’s lovely.”

“I’m gonna call Mr. Jarvis, Grandad Edwin.”

“Mr. Jarvis would be absolutely thrilled to have a baby named after him.”

“He was a really good dad,” said Tony, thinking of him.

“And he’s a really good baby.”

***

Two days later, a magazine had a photo of him in the hospital with Edwin. He was sleeping with his mouth open. Tony was shirtless, arc reactor fully visible. He hadn’t left the house without a thick shirt since coming home from hell. Strangers weren’t supposed to see that. The general public believed the arc reactor was part of his suit, not inside him. Only his family and the people in the room when Edwin was born had ever seen the arc reactor. There was equal buzz about Edwin and Tony’s mutilation.

It made his skin crawl. Someone had been in the room with them. The credit gave him a name. The hospital was horrified, the photographer had been in the hospital while his wife gave birth. Tony didn’t blame them. He sued the photographer and magazine separately.

The paparazzo got a year in prison for criminal stalking, a four-year restraining order, and a one thousand-dollar fine as well as his payment being given to Tony. It was six million dollars, but it didn’t make Tony feel better about the man being in his room when Tony was asleep and cuddling his baby.

The magazine tried to claim it was news. Tony’s lawyers cited parental consent, Edwin was less than six hours old in the photo he hadn’t consented and Tony had sure as hell not signed off on it. As the magazine had made profits off of stalking, the whole thing became a legal nightmare. They bought illegal goods and then distributed it. Tony stayed at home, cuddling Edwin, enjoying Peggy’s company. His lawyer was asked if Tony would appear in court, and she replied, “Mr. Stark is a single father with a newborn; he’s too busy being a dad to be here. Mr. Stark grew up in the spotlight, his father forced him into the press at the age of four. He believes that it was detrimental to his mental health growing up and left him with unhealthy ideas about celebrity. As such, he intends to keep his child as far away from the press as possible. There will be no official baby pictures, no interviews with the new dad. Mr. Stark has a large personality and a very, very colorful past. He is a celebrity. His child is a newborn, not a public figure. Taking a photo in a private hospital while someone is asleep, and undressed in a way he would not want to be seen, is horrific. Buying that photo and distributing it is depraved.”

Tony put the eighty million dollar settlement, plus the six million from the paparazzo, into a trust fund for Edwin’s future. Then he went paddling in the pool with Edwin, who loved water.

***

Tony wore Edwin almost 24 hours a day. Having him in a sling made it easy to work. He remodeled part of his workshop with explosion-proof glass that could be shaded when Tony worked with a blowtorch. Edwin liked the computer projections Tony used for screens. He had always worked from his home workshop anyway. Whenever he went to the office, he brought his baby. At first, people were irritated that he wore Edwin into meetings and paced with him while giving presentations and listening to others. But Edwin wasn’t a crier; he was a happy baby, and people fell in love with him. People at the office would coo at him, and Tony understood why: he was pretty.

It didn’t impact his work when the power went out in the Malibu office. They rerouted all the generators to power the labs and workshops while the corporate people worked from the lobby, home and on empty work surfaces in more necessary, and thus powered, spaces. A week after the four-day power out, Tony went to an R&D department meeting.

He went into his office early to get some work done. Edwin got fussy, and Tony opened his fridge and said, “Oh fuck me,” and then, “Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to say that.” The milk had been melted and then refrozen. Now it couldn’t be used. “What am I gonna do?” Then it hit him, and he sighed, “Okay, I’m about to get sued for sexual harassment.”

He sat down at his desk and opened a new email with the subject line, “I swear that this isn’t sexual harassment”. He typed fast, “Hello, if you decide to sue someone, please sue me directly as this is not approved by anyone in the company. I brought my baby to work today and realized that all of the frozen breastmilk I keep for him here spoiled in the power out. Is anyone breastfeeding? Or do you have formula? Because, even if I leave right now, he’ll be screaming before we get home. I apologize if I have offended anyone.”

He hit send and tried to sooth Edwin with his dummy. Two minutes later, his desk phone rang, he answered with, “Tony Stark.”

“Hi, this is Madeline Danes from legal.”

“I’m getting sued,” guessed Tony.

“No, well, maybe — but not yet. I have a five-month-old. She is downstairs in daycare. She’s the youngest baby there and possibly the only one still on breastmilk. I just pumped, and she’s going to be fine until five, so I’ll be able to cover them both.”

“Ms. Danes, you are my new favorite person.”

She laughed, “I’ll be up in a minute. Now, send out an email to show that it was a legit request, use my name. Make it obvious you aren’t just finding out who is breastfeeding.”

“Thanks,” he hung up and typed, “Madeline Danes from legal is a superstar who has a five-month-old. Crisis averted, thank you for your time. And again, I owe a big thank you to Madeline.”

“Tony!” Tony heard Pepper scream from outside. It sparked Edwin’s meltdown.

***

He talked to the baby all day every day, having conversations with him, Butterfingers, U, DUM-E and JARVIS. He used sign language a lot as babies could learn it, and Tony didn’t want only JARVIS to answer. But at six months, Edwin said, “Dada,” and then did the sign for milk.

“You want milk?” asked Tony, and Edwin smiled. “Let’s get you some milk.” As he warmed up the milk, he said, “JARVIS, tell me you got that on video?”

“Master Edwin’s first word was recorded, sir.”

“Edwin called me, ‘Dada.’”

“You are his dada, sir.”

***

Unless it happened in his backyard or concerned his weapons, he stopped doing big superheroing. He stopped muggings — little things with big guns that were slightly too much for the cops but not really big enough for a man in a flying suit of armor. He took apart his weapons wherever they turned up. He took on black market weapons dealers but never super villains. Mostly, he worked on green tech and hung out with his baby. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy could always be counted on to watch him when Tony did have to be a superhero.

The government started hounding him about the armor, but Tony put his foot down. He wasn’t giving the system to anyone he couldn’t trust, and he had no idea who the armed forces would put in the suit. He did compromise, however. He understood that having back up was good for when he couldn’t face the treat. But he gave it — and the money to cover the taxes — to Rhodey as a personal gift. No one but he could use it — it was biolinked to only allow Rhodey to open it or turn it on. He trusted Rhodey to the ends of the Earth, whereas he only sometimes trusted the government. Tony asked him to consult on the paint job and weapons systems and said, “And what are we calling you in this suit?”

“War Machine,” said Rhodey without hesitation.

“You’ve thought about this,” said Tony.

“Yay, War Machine,” said Edwin, strapped to Tony’s front to stop him from running amok in the workshop; he was always hyper after his nap.

“Maybe not War Machine, actually,” said Rhodey. “Creepy to hear it out of Win’s mouth. I don’t like it out of a baby’s mouth. Maybe just The Machine. What do you think, Win? Uncle Machine?”

“Uncle Machine!” repeated Edwin, with just as much enthusiasm.

“Okay, The Machine it is. Talk me through basic maintenance.”

Tony smiled, “I miss MIT, back when you were studying aerospace engineering, and I was basically chilling out.”

“Fun times,” said Rhodey. “The original science bros.”

“Science broing since 1984,” agreed Tony.

“Win science bro?” asked Edwin.

“Of course, you’re our science bro,” agreed Tony. “Three science bros in a workshop together.”

Then he went through the maintenance for the armor. Edwin kept reaching for tools and handing them to Tony, being “helpful.” Each time, Tony would say, “Thank you, Win, very kind. Remember, we don’t touch tools when we’re by ourselves. Daddy needs to help because some tools are dangerous.” 

***

Once Edwin was off of breastmilk and baby food, Tony quickly realized he was going to need to learn to cook. Every time someone put food in front of him, Edwin would confidently say that Daddy could do better. And then he would happily chew through badly burned grilled cheese sandwiches and too-wet eggs because Daddy made them. Tony felt ashamed of the things he put on his kid’s plate, he took four online cooking classes. He read through his mom’s old cookbooks, and Mrs. Jarvis’. Rhodey’s mom, Aunt Peggy and his cousin Sharon all sent him recipes. He got okay, better than okay, good-adjacent.

Edwin liked broccoli because he felt like a giant eating trees. He liked Brussel sprouts for the same reason: it was a whole head of lettuce on a fork. Edwin wasn’t great at using a fork, and Tony cut the Brussel sprouts because the orbs were a choking hazard. Win was miles ahead of where the baby books said he would be for talking and walking, but he was still a two-year-old and in danger of choking hazards. Tony liked the time Edwin was in the baby chair because it held him still and got him to look at Tony while they had conversations about their day, their time in the workshop, swimming, games.

He told Edwin he loved him all the time. He praised him when he said please or thank you. Tony made sure that he knew he was valued for much more than his mind; that he was loved as a person.

Edwin started sleeping through the night three days after his second birthday, and Tony found himself sleeping too. It was weird to keep regular hours, but Edwin exhausted him. Edwin got eleven hours of sleep, and Tony found himself getting a solid eight. He found it odd to be rested. He wondered if this was what normal people felt like. He liked it.

***

Tony was dying. The arc reactor that was keeping him alive was poisoning him and fast. He made arrangements, started the process to make Pepper the CEO, citing wanting more time with his baby. He still hadn’t managed to get Edwin into his own bed, but Tony didn’t mind cuddling every night. The only problem was when Edwin lost his dummy, and it ended up digging into Tony’s back. He told Edwin his favorite poem, “Goodnight, Edwin,” and got him to sleep before sneaking back down to the workshop.

He called Rhodey, not wanting to tell the man but knowing he couldn’t avoid it. It took four attempts for him to actually hit the dial button. Rhodey picked up, saying, “I’m so glad to hear from you, man. I’ve only been home for five days, and Mom’s driving me crazy. What’s up with you? Can you give me a reason to blow Philly? I’ll take any excuse.”

“Can I tell you a secret? I need you to keep it to yourself. No one else knows.”

“Sure.”

“The palladium that powers my arc reactor is causing heavy metal poisoning. I’m doing my best here, trying to finding some other way to power it. But… you’ve always said you take him in a heartbeat.”

“You’re going to figure this out. You’re the smartest guy I know. But, take that worry out of your mind, I would take him and he would become my first priority. So take that worry out of the equation. Win’s covered.”

“Thank you.”

“The others don’t know?”

“I don’t want to deal with the fussing on top of the work.”

“Okay, well, I am coming to see my godbaby, keep him out of your hair. See you in twenty minutes.”

“I’m really glad you have the suit to help you.”

“I love the suit,” agreed Rhodey. Tony hung up and started his math again, running different calculations. DUM-E brought him another glass of the vile drink his bots had been making to slow the poisoning. He was still working when his Black Sabbath went quiet as Rhodey flew in and landed on the platform that took off his armor, “What’s our time frame?”

“Seven weeks, Colonel Rhodes, if Sir is sensible and doesn’t use the suit.”

“No suit, Tones,” said Rhodey.

“Agreed,” said Tony.

“I’m serious, this isn’t like the ‘No strippers on the party bus’ rule. This one matters.”

“I’m a good dad, Rhodey, I’m not going to trade a minute with him for an hour in the suit.”

“Thank you,” he stepped off the platform and hugged Tony, “I’m here, I’m on leave for two months and I’m ready to help. Math, science, biology? I was always better at biology than you.”

“It was neither of our majors,” said Tony.

“Yeah, but you’re a genius. Aren’t you supposed to be better at everything?”

Tony laughed, “Please, there are no flies on you.” Rhodey started to pull away, but Tony hugged him closer, “I’ve known about this for three weeks; keep hugging me.”

Rhodey held him closer, “It’s gonna be okay, Tony.”

“I loved MIT, and I love him… I’ve had about six fun years in my life. Just when I started to enjoy every day, just when I started to have a really happy life. It’s not good moments, or good weeks, it’s a good life… I don’t want to leave my baby.”

“You’re not going to. We’re going to work through this. I’m going to take care of any and all superheroing. What kind of exertion puts an extra toll on the arc reactor?” asked Rhodey, pulling back slowly.

“The suit or a triathlon. The pool or chasing Win around the park might take off minutes. And if we can’t fix this… I’d rather lose half an hour at the end than lose hours at the park and in the pool with him.”

“Okay, what about dialysis?” Tony blinked. “Tony, please tell me you thought about dialysis.”

“I was going for a bigger solution. J figured out a drink that tamps it down.”

“JARVIS, little math: will dialysis help?”

JARVIS didn’t respond for a moment, “I’m so sorry, sir, I’ve let you down. Dialysis could add an additional three weeks to your life expectancy. I will order a machine and all the operating manuals. It will be here in the morning.”

“Thank you, JARVIS,” said Rhodey. “Can food exacerbate this?”

“Leafy greens and alcohol.”

“Okay, easy: no kale, beers or shots for the next ten weeks,” said Rhodey.

“Aw, you’re taking away all the fun… and kale.”

“You haven’t told Pepper yet?”

“The other day, when I was at a meeting, Pepper tried to get Win to eat spinach. He told her it was gonna be a hard no. She said, ‘But, Win, you like spinach: Daddy puts it in his meatloaf.’ I can’t trust her not to tell my kid I sneak him extra vegetables. I can’t ask her to keep this from him. She’s about to get a huge promotion.”

“And Happy?” asked Rhodey.

“No, he’s too emotional; he’ll cry in front of Win. I’m sorry to put this on you alone.”

“Don’t worry, Tones, this is me. You’re my Tony: you can always tell me.”

“Thank you. I haven’t even told my shrink yet.”

“The shrink is someone you should definitely loop in. Of course, if you had told me, when we were younger, that you would one day go to a shrink, I would have laughed. The very idea of you being emotionally stable enough to admit that help can, in fact, help would have seemed preposterous. You grew up so much.”

“Well, takes a village to raise a child; maybe it takes a few people to make a daddy.”

***

When Edwin woke up, Tony was already hooked into the dialysis machine. It was Rhodey who changed his Pull-Ups and made him breakfast. Edwin looked at the device in the workshop and said, “Spearmint?”

“It is an experiment,” agreed Tony with a smile.

“Win can help?” asked Edwin, hopefully.

“Yes, you can help by drawing with me or by playing with Uncle Rhodey. I gotta stay hooked up to the machine for another couple of hours. It’s a boring experiment.”

“What’s proving?” asked Edwin, looking at the machine.

“It’s gonna make me feel less tired.”

“Daddy’s been sleepy lots,” Edwin told Rhodey.

“This is going to help that.”

“And Daddy’s light sometimes smokes.”

“Yeah, the palladium degrades and smokes,” Tony explained to Rhodey.

“Well, I’m here to help Daddy,” Rhodey said, “This machine is going to help too. So, do you want to draw, or play on the swings, or go swimming?”

“Read story?” asked Edwin.

“Absolutely,” said Rhodey. “What book would you like me to read?”

“No, Win read,” said Edwin.

Rhodey looked at Tony in disbelief. Tony nodded with a smile, “I got really easy books to read on nights when bedtime was tight. He started reading them to me. Win, why don’t you get one of your new ones? I’d like to hear a new story. Uncle Rhodey can open the plastic.”

Edwin nodded and brought one of the books still wrapped in plastic to Rhodey. “It’s about doggies,” he said, holding out a book with “Go Away Dog” written on the cover. Rhodey unwrapped it, and Edwin clambered in his lap. Edwin read with his fingers running under the words, and Tony loved watching him as he slowly said, “Go away, you bad old dog. Go away from me. I don’t like you, dog. I don’t like dogs at all.” He read it clearly, but he stopped and looked up at Tony. “Daddy, we could have dog?”

“Baby, we’ve got a DUM-E, a Butterfingers, a U and all the cleaning bots. We can’t have a dog too.”

Edwin thought about it and said, “More robots?”

“Maybe more robots,” agreed Tony. “What happens next in the story, Win?”

Edwin refocused and said, “Big dogs, little dogs. Any dogs at all. I don’t want that stick: don’t give it t’ me.”

Rhodey was looking at Edwin in shock, and, at the end, he said, “Win, you’re only two and a half, right? Not six? ‘Cause that was some great reading."

Edwin beamed at the praise, “I’m good at reading.”

“That’s a book for six-year-olds,” said Rhodey. “That’s awesome.”

Edwin read two more books before drawing scribbles and dots that Tony praised and then asked Rhodey to hang for him. The workshop was already covered in papers covered in scribbles. Tony thought they brought charm to the space. The machine finally clicked off, and Tony set about cleaning it, making sure it would be ready in two days for the next round. He got out the testing machine he’d been using and tested his blood. It was at nine percent, and he said, “Wow, I was at twenty-four with JARVIS’ drug yesterday.”

“Sir, I would like to apologize again for not considering dialysis,” said JARVIS.

“J, Rhodey is a genius with a human brain, he thinks differently from you. I didn’t think of it either of it. Don’t sweat it, kid: you’re still good.” He sighed, “I’m hungry for breakfast.”

“Want me to make you a bowl of cereal?” asked Rhodey.

“Did you feed my kid sugar and carbs for breakfast?” asked Tony.

“It was in the cupboard,” said Rhodey, “isn’t that breakfast?”

“Dessert,” said Edwin with a giggle, “I got special breakfast.”

“A soft boiled egg, half a slice of toast and grapes is breakfast,” said Tony. He might still die. Rhodey might end up being a dad; he should know what a healthy breakfast meant. “Half a cup of Lucky Charms with two percent milk is dessert.”

Rhodey grimaced, “Sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can’t complain: you fed my baby.”

“Do you want me to boil you an egg?” asked Rhodey.

“If Win gets special breakfast, I want special breakfast too,” said Tony, making Edwin grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Edwin was playing in his portion of the workshop, building himself a dog out of Duplo. With him distracted, Rhodey asked if he was sure about signing over his company, saying, "You're not gonna die. I promise: you’re gonna be okay. So do you really want to make Pep the CEO when you’re going to be okay?”

“I’ll still be the head of R&D and the chairman of the board. This gives me time to tinker and more time to play with him. From the minute I understood how money worked and how much money we had, I resented my dad for never spending time with me except in the workshop. I don’t need to work any more than the amount SI’s employees need me to for them to be able to do their jobs I’m semi-retiring. He’s only going to be a kid for a blink. I’m rich enough not to need to work. But a lot of people depend on my work to do theirs. Once he goes to kindergarten, I lose out on my baby time. I’m going to enjoy every minute. I like him, just as a person, and he’s my science bro who I get to play with all day because he doesn’t have work. If you didn’t have a job and lived in this house, I would just as tempted to retire. I mostly keep my job because he naps and I get bored. When he goes to school, it’s gonna suck.”

Rhodey nodded, “Okay, as long as you want this. Because, you’re going to be fine. Just say, worst-case scenario, you run short on time: we take out the arc reactor and hook you up to a car battery. Is it ideal? No. Will it give us time? Absolutely.” 

“Love you, Rhodey.”

“Love you, too, Tones,” said Rhodey, then looked at his watch. “Happy wanted to spar with you; I’m stealing your training. And someone from legal is coming over for you to sign over the CEO position to Pep.”

“I’d love to see you and Happy go toe to toe.” Then he called to Edwin, “Baby, Uncles Rhodey and Happy are gonna box, I bet it will be funny. Let’s watch.”

Edwin brought his dog, “Bring this?”

“Sure, Win.” He swung his baby onto his hip and said, “I miss when you were little enough to let me carry you in a swing all the time. Now, you run around too much.”

Edwin shook his head, “Run ‘round just right.”

“Too much for me to wear you now.”

“Too big to wear.”

“Nah, you won’t be too big when you’re fifty.”

“Fifty-one?” asked Win.

“Oh yeah, by fifty-one, you’re too big.”

“Never wanna be fifty-one,” said Edwin, handing his dog off to Rhodey and putting his arms around Tony’s neck. 

“Rhodey, can you grab the Duplo bucket, please? Win can keep building friends.”

Win nodded, “While you and Uncle Happy play rock ‘em sock ‘em.”

Upstairs, Tony said, “Look, Happy, Rhodey is here. He’s taking my sparring.”

“Daddy’s tired and feelin’ bad,” said Win. “But, machine help.” 

Pepper walked in with a pretty redhead and heard Win’s words. “What kind of machine?” she asked. 

Tony smiled at Edwin, not wanting him to think things were bad, “A dialysis machine,” said Tony. He hadn’t wanted to tell her or Happy. But, now it was out there; he should have expected it. Edwin was too little to understand discretion. “The palladium is making me sick. I’m figuring out a new fuel source for the reactor. Rhodey came to help. I can’t spar, or use my suit, or anything that takes a great deal of exertion until I find a new power source.”

“Playing with me ‘sertion?”

“No, Win, playing with you is not an overexertion,” assured Tony.

“Tony, is this why you’re stepping down as CEO?” asked Pepper. “Because, if so, that’s really stupid.”

“Pep, it’s time you take this step in your career. You were my personal personal assistant, then my corporate personal assistant and now you’re already shadow running the company. It’s time, and I want more free time to hang out with Win, work on the suit and be Iron Man.”

“No heroics, Tony,” said Pepper, sternly.

“Daddy’s a superhero; gotta be heroic,” said Edwin. “But safe,” he added, looking at Tony.

“Always careful, Win, promise,” said Tony. “That’s why Uncle Rhodey is sparring with Happy, and I’m playing with your Duplo bricks.” He turned to the pretty redhead and said, “Are you the person helping Pepper steal my company?”

“Natalie Rushman, from legal,” she said. “I have all the paperwork, ready for your impression.”

“Impression?” he repeated. 

“Signature and thumbprint,” she said.

“Natalie is fancy,” Tony said to Edwin. “Can you say ‘Hi’?”

“Hi, Atalie,” said Win with a smile. 

“Hi, Edwin, it’s nice to meet you.”

“‘Ice to meet you too,” said Edwin with a grin.

“Win had a little bit of a hard time with the letter ‘n’ at the start of words,” explained Tony.

“What are you building?” asked Natalie as Edwin sorted through his Duplo.

“Making a kitty to go wiv my dog.”

Tony started to sign everywhere with a Post-it. “Pep, this doesn’t say you get my kidney, right?”

“If you’re concerned about it, you might want to read it over,” she joked.

“Nah, I don’t need both my kidneys.” He handed it back to Natalie and said, “Thanks. Now Pep is the boss.”

“Bossy?” asked Win.

“No, just the boss. It’s not nice to call women bossy. Don’t be that guy,” said Tony, turning to him. 

“Will you be needing a new PA, Mr. Stark?” asked Natalie. 

“Nah, not being the CEO has a lot of downtime. I’ve gotten a lot more self-reliant since Pepper started. Being a dad made me grow up. I don’t have as many appointments as I used to; my AI is smarter and more helpful than he used to be; everywhere delivers now.”

“Aunt Pepper, do you own company?”

“No, I just run it.”

“But Daddy’s boss?”

“Well, as the chairman of the board, he’s my boss. When he’s acting as the head of R&D, I’m his boss. But no matter what I’m doing, I’m always your aunty.” 

“Grownup doctor lunch?” Pepper always took Win out to a restaurant once a week while Tony was at the shrink’s office. 

“Of course, we’ll still have grownup doctor lunch; it’s my favorite lunch of the week,” said Pepper. 

Natalie was still standing there. Tony wasn’t sure why. “Anything else, Ms. Rushman?”

“If you Google me, you’ll see my modeling time in Japan, I speak five languages. I’d be a good PA.”

“Okay,” said Tony. “Still don’t want one.” 

“I told Director Fury that this might not work, you seem like you’ve mellowed since becoming a dad.”

“Director Fury?” he repeated with a smile. 

“I’m a SHIELD shadow. I infiltrated legal two weeks ago. I’m supposed to be evaluating you for the Avenger Initiative.”

“Already told Fury I don’t wanna join the boy band,” he said as Pepper started getting angry about security.

“I know, but he wants an evaluation anyway. He thought I was shiny enough to distract you. But you’re not that easy anymore. Here’s what I think we should do, hire me as your PA, I’ll pick up your dry-cleaning and keep your schedule for a month. At the end, I will hand him a final evaluation that says you’re awful. You can even proofread it.”

“What’s in it for you, Ms. Rushman?”

“Natasha Romanoff, my codename is Black Widow. I’m going to be an Avenger. I’d rather everyone on the team was committed to it.” He started to type, about to access SHIELD to look her up and she said, “If you burn me, Fury will pull me out.” She held out her phone, “Use mine. Natalia Alianovna Romanova. But I go by Natasha Romanoff; it’s easier for English speakers.”

He looked at her phone and said, “There’s a SHIELD app?”

“Yeah, it’s useful for us.”

“Win, Nanny would be horrified to know what’s going on at her company,” Tony clicked through the screens. It was actually a brilliantly designed app. Every time Tony wanted to scroll or open another screen, it would require Natasha’s thumbprint, iris scan and password. It was definitely on the level.

“Anny worked with Atalie?”

“She was joking, Natalie’s real name is Natasha. She works at SHIELD.”

Win smiled at Natasha, “Anny was the boss a SHIELD.”

“Yeah, Nanny was the Director before a very silly man named Nick; he’s in charge now,” Tony told him. “He wants me to join a team of superheroes, called the Avengers.” 

“Safe?” asked Win.

Tony shook his head, “They’d be fighting big, big bad guys. I think it’s too dangerous.”

Win looked at Natasha and said, “Can’t have Daddy.”

“I agree, Win,” she said with a smile. “I’m not going to let Nick put your daddy on the team.”

“Thank you, ‘Tasha,” he said with a bright smile.

“Natasha is going to be working for us for a little while.”

“What do?” asked Win.

“I don’t know. Pepper, I know you’re the CEO, but can you tell Natasha how to do her cover job? I’m not sure what you do as my PA, I just know my life falls apart when you’re away. We’ve got Monaco coming up. Do we have hotel rooms for that?” asked Tony.

“We’ve had hotel rooms for that for months, Tony, but are you up to it?”

Instead of responding, Tony said, “Win, what happens in Monaco?”

“Car race!” said Win with excitement. “Life is a highway,” he sang enthusiastically, off-key and loud. “Ride it all a long!”

Tony looked at Pepper with an eyebrow raised, “Are you going to deny Lightning McQueen’s biggest fan? I won’t wear the suit; I won’t drink alcohol, I’ll do dialysis before we go and the minute we get back.”

“You never travel without the suit,” said Pepper.

“I’ll be there, with The Machine armor,” said Rhodey. “Tony, can you make me a suitcase version of it? Just for emergencies and traveling?” Tony nodded. “So, I guess we’ll need an extra room.”

“No, I booked extras,” said Pepper, “it’s always best to err on the side excess when dealing with Tony’s travels.”

“Monaco has snacks?” asked Edwin.

“Ladurée has dozens of flavors of macarons.”

Edwin grinned, then he said, “Aunt Pepper, I had special breakfast.”

“Really, what was special about it?” asked Pepper as Rhodey winced. 

“I thought that the Lucky Charms breakfast cereal in the cupboard was intended for breakfast,” he explained.

“So you had a bowl of cookies and marshmallows for breakfast?” asked Pepper. Win grinned and nodded.

***

Monaco was beautiful as always, but Pepper and he had to go a grownup mixer. It was unavoidable with her promotion. And he had to do it sober. Edwin and Happy had a feast from room service while he, Pepper and Rhodey went to the drinks party. 

There, they were set upon by Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart. Hammer wanted a spot at the Stark Expo, and Rhodey said, “Your contract with the government was revoked because your tech is subpar, unreliable and cheaply made while looking good. You think you’re getting a spot at the first Stark Expo since ’74? You got the notice that SI doesn’t make weapons anymore? You’re not welcome at the Expo. It’s celebrating life; you make weapons that don’t kill bad guys and sometimes blow up in the hands of the good guys. I’m overruling Tones, whatever his answer is, mine is no, no, you cannot have a slot.”

“Surely, it would be up to the CEO of the company,” Hammer pivoted to look at Pepper, “right, Pepper?” 

“Mr. Hammer,” she said, sounding very polite and cordial, “The Stark Expo aims to bring together the best minds from around the world, to present their work and allow them to work together to develop the future and a brighter tomorrow for all mankind. I don’t see how Hammer Industries would fit into that.” She smiled politely, insulting his company and intelligence all at once. 

Natasha came over and said, “Your corner table is ready, Mr. Stark.”

They sat down, and Tony pulled out his blood toxicity test. It was at nine percent, having been down to three percent that morning.

“Did it get your pulse up?” asked Rhodey softly.

“I hate both of them,” said Tony. “Pep, you were amazing.”

“Justin Hammer makes my skin crawl,” she said under her breath. A lot of people came over to the table to wish Pepper well or to say how excited they were for the Expo. They ate and mingled and laughed, seeing some people they actually liked. Tony talked of his excitement about the Expo. 

In the morning, they ate breakfast on a deck, looking out over the water. There was seafood and croissants. Win was happily sipping hot chocolate and saying, “Cars soon?”

“After your afternoon nap,” said Tony. “Have you seen the hotel’s beautiful pool? We’ll go swimming, have a look at the city, eat lunch at a patisserie, we’ll come back and read a story, take a nap and then we’ll go watch the race.” 

“Whas a patisserie?”

“It’s where the macarons live.”

“I like macarons,” said Edwin.

Tony nodded, “I know you do, baby.” He chugged the disgusting fluid that JARVIS had designed. It was revolting. He got forty ounces down and then drank his coffee. 

Rhodey was watching him and said, “How is your blood?”

“I’m at eleven percent. If I keep calm, chug this stuff, I’ll still be under twenty when we get home tomorrow afternoon.”

Rhodey shook his head, “We’re going home tonight, Tones. Race, family dinner and we’re out of here by nine PM.” 

Tony gave a slow nod, “Thanks for being a grownup when I don’t think clearly.”

“So, twenty-four hours a day, then?” he joked. 

They spent the morning swimming, Christmas shopping and eating. It was fun, lazy. Edwin went down for his nap while Tony and Rhodey did more math. There wasn’t a simple alloy that was going to work as fuel, so they started going through more complex materials, running them through simulations. Having Rhodey made the process faster. Natasha came to him and said, “Take me into your confidence: tell me about your health problem.”

“What?” he asked. 

“I think we might have something at SHIELD, but I need to be able to offer to Fury that I’m in your confidence.”

“You’re a bizarre double agent,” he said. Then he said, “Natalie, allow me to take you into my confidence: I have less than three months to live because of heavy metal poisoning from palladium.”

“You’re smart enough to get out of this,” she said.

“Thanks, Natalie.”

Edwin ran out of the bedroom in his Pull-Ups with his dummy still in. “Daddy, ‘Tasha, I didn’t wet my Pull-Ups!” 

Tony smiled, “Awesome, baby, good job! High five.” He held out a hand that Edwin slapped with enthusiasm. “Big boy undies and clothes?” Edwin nodded enthusiastically. “Okay, then we’ll go to watch the race.”

“Life is a highway!” Edwin started singing. 

“I’m ready for you to like another movie, baby,” said Tony, but Edwin shook his head aggressively. “Okay, what about ‘Get your kicks’?”

“On Route sixty-six,” finished Edwin.

Tony swooped Edwin up and peppered his face with loud, squeaky kisses as Edwin giggled. “You’re an excellent father, Tony,” said Natasha.

“I hope so,” said Tony.

“Daddy,” Edwin shrieked. “Squeaky kisses tickle.” It was muffled by his dummy, but Tony had practice listening to him speak.

“Sound is weird like that,” agreed Tony. “Let’s get you into undies.” 

Tony changed his fast and said, “Are you done with your dummy, or do you still want it?”

“Want my dummy,” said Edwin.

He was dressed in his Lightning McQueen shirt and branded light-up branded shoes along with jeans. “Here, swap it,” said Tony holding out a dummy with the race car on it. He gathered up supplies and, out in the living room, handed Natasha paper, crayons and race cars, Edwin’s Iron Teddy and an extra pacifier, “I need you to carry a purse, personal assistant.” Natasha examined the Iron Teddy, a well-loved teddy bear in felt armor. She raised an eyebrow, and Tony said, “A gift from my cousin Sharon. She works at SHIELD, Agent Thirteen?”

“Agent Thirteen is your cousin?” 

“Aunt Share is great!” said Edwin, grinning around his pacifier. 

“Yeah,” agreed Tony, “and she sewed your teddy’s costume while on a very boring stakeout.” He looked around and found his shoes, “I think we’re ready. Aunt Pep and Uncles Rhodey and Hap are meeting us down there.” 

Natasha looked at him, scanning him up and down. He was wearing worn jeans and an old Metallica t-shirt. “Do you want to change?”

“When you own the most technologically advanced car in the biggest race of the year, you wear whatever you want.” As Tony spoke, he shrugged into a bespoke sports jacket. “See? Now I’m formal.”

They went to the starting line, and Edwin said, “We meet driver?”

“He’s gotta focus, Win, it’s a big, big day. Just like Lightning likes to hype himself up in Mack before he gets to the track. I’m sure he would love to meet you later.”

Pepper handed him a champagne glass and moved as though to kiss his cheek in greeting and whispered, “It’s for show.”

He smiled and lifted the glass. Speaking for the people listening, he said, “Here’s to the race.” He took a sham sip, lips closed but swallowing for effect. 

“I drink?” asked Edwin.

“Nah, Win, it’s gross,” said Tony, handing off his glass to Happy. After the cars took off, they went to a viewing party with other owners to watch the action on big screens. 

Edwin was disappointed that the cars went on roads instead of a track, but every time one would pull in to get refueled or new tires, Edwin would happily say, “Peet stop!” A woman shot them an irritated look the third time he did it. 

Tony kissed the top of his head and plopped him into Rhodey’s lap. “Be right back, Win.” He walked over to the woman with a smile and said, “Got a question for you. What’s more absurd: a two-year-old quoting his favorite movie when it’s applicable in real life or a room full of million- and billionaires sitting around drinking and watching employees drive their super-fast cars? If a baby enjoying a car race is really so offensive to you that you think scowling at him is appropriate, I suggest you move because I’m not going to scold him for reacting with excitement to a big car race where one of the cars has his name stamped on it. You should be so lucky as to be that excited.” He didn’t wait for her to reply and went to a buffet to grab a plate of nibbles. He brought them back to Edwin, saying, “Pit stop snacks.”

Edwin leaned out of Rhodey’s lap to take a mini quiche. “Peet stop!” he said, before popping it into his mouth. 

Things went wrong fast. A man was down on the road in a metal suit. He hit a car with an electric whip. Rhodey was up in an instant, handing Edwin to Pepper. He snapped open the case he had been carrying with him at all times, and the armor popped out. “Tony, don’t mess up the family vacation. I’ve got this.” He flew out an open door onto a patio.

Tony smiled at Win to soothe him, “There goes Uncle Machine, off to fight the bad guy.” The guy on the road was not a skilled fighter. His whips were vicious, but his form wasn’t great. He hit the Stark car off the road, but then Rhodey ripped what looked like an arc reactor off the man’s suit. 

Through the TV, he heard Rhodey say, “Stay down,” as the cops came to the man. 

The man started to laugh and said, “You lose, Stark,” as the cops cuffed him. 

Rhodey opened his faceplate and said, “You’re not big enough for Iron Man. You got the b team. Tony is on a family vacation. You weren’t threat enough to merit him disappointing his kid.”

The man looked devastated at the idea that he had been taken down by someone other than Tony. The cops dragged him off, and Tony said, “I’m gonna have to get to the bottom of this.” Then he added, “Pepper, as the CEO, you should check on the driver. He’s your employee, and he was just hurt operating company property.”

“Tony, I know,” she said. 

“I became the CEO when I was a kid who wasn’t ready. You’re a grownup who actually worked for the job. So I have a lot of advice from trial and error. I’m not being condescending. I’m helping.”

“Thanks, but I have this.” She patted him on the chest, “You can keep the advice coming; if it makes you feel good.”

“Daddy, wanna meet driver,” said Edwin.

“Baby, let Pepper meet the driver. And if he isn’t injured or too shaken, I’m sure he would like to meet you. I need you to stay with ‘Tasha and Uncle Hap, okay? And be good for them. Uncle Rhodey and I have to go talk to the bad guy.”

“Safe?” asked Edwin.

“Yeah, he’s in cuffs,” Tony kissed him. “Love you loads.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

Tony smiled, and to Natasha, he said, “He’s easy to watch: ply him with snacks and chatting. Happy knows the drill.” He dropped another kiss on Edwin’s head repeated, “Be good for them.”

Edwin nodded.

“Where is my universe?” he asked, smiling. 

“Un’er m’skin,” said Edwin.

“That’s right; keep it safe for me.”

***

The man was sullen and scowling. Tony figured the best way to get to him was the tech. He’d looked at it on the drive over with Rhodey, “Decent tech. Cycles per second were a little low. You could have doubled up your rotations. You focused the repulsor energy through ionized plasma channels. It’s effective. Not very efficient. But it’s a passable knock-off. A little fine-tuning, you could have made a solid paycheck. You could have sold it to North Korea, China, Iran or gone onto the black market. You look like you got friends in low places.”

Ivan sneered, “You come from a family of thieves and butchers. And now, like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your own history. And you forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed.”

“Fair,” Tony shrugged, “but my grandfather was a grocer, not a butcher. Hey, speaking of thieves, where did you get this design?”

“My father. Anton Vanko.”

With a shrug, Tony said, “Never heard of him.”

“He’s the reason you’re alive.”

“How do you figure?” asked Tony.

“He invented the arc reactor.”

“Pretty sure that was Dad.”

“Our fathers were partners. When my father saw a way to monetize the arc reactor, your father had us deported, claimed he was a spy. He claimed champion of energy.”

Tony nodded, “‘Kay, but you know that for years I’ve been making amends, right? You don’t call or write to say my dad screwed your dad. You clearly have design plans. Hearing that my dad stole credit is very easy to believe, and you have proof. And if you didn’t want to drop me a line, why not make yourself an arc reactor and save a bus full of kids, stop a bank robbery? People love a hero. You could have made a mint off of superhero merch. Now, you’re going to prison. That’s dumb. I’m going to get the lawyers to change the paperwork, list your dad as one of the inventors. That gives you the right to monetize it however you want, but you’ll be using the money in the prison commissary.”

The man blinked at him, “You believe me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Tony shrugged. “My dad was an asshole, and the only way you can make an arc reactor is if you know the specs. I believe you. The world might think Howard Stark was a hero, but I grew up with an angry, abusive, spiteful drunk. And now, instead of coming to me to have me make amends, you’re going to prison. I’m going to go search through all of Dad’s old files, see if I can’t find your dad’s name on something. Dad was a packrat. I’ll find something for the lawyers. Once I get all the paperwork sorted, I’ll hold a press thing — get your dad the credit he deserved. Do you have a lawyer? You should have a lawyer. I can get you one. I mean, the court is gonna come at you with, ‘Neat motive: still illegal.’ But a good lawyer will help.”

“I don’t need your help, Stark.”

Tony nodded, “Okay, well, I’m going to go. My kid wants to meet a race car driver. Unlike my dad, I like my kid, and I want to be a part of his childhood. Consider my offer of a lawyer. I’ll send you the paperwork once I get the original patent amended.” Standing, he said, “Sorry my dad screwed your dad and messed up your life. He had a knack for that. I can’t right his wrongs, I can only hope to fix my own. Considering the weapons I built, I will never fix the balance. But, I try.” He reached out to shake the man’s hand. Ivan took it, seemingly still surprised. “I hope we’ll meet again someday, Mr. Vanko; your father’s invention saved my life. The offer for a lawyer is on the table.”

As Tony reached the door, Ivan said, “Justin Hammer is intending on destroying you.”

Tony said, “You planning on helping him?”

“I was,” the man said and sniffed, “But, no. I’m not going to help him.”

“Thank you,” said Tony, “because that arc reactor might not be the current model, but it’s still very impressive. I know the top two criminal defense lawyers in Monaco. I’m sure one of them would be happy to take your case. They are both at the race right now.”

The man sighed heavily. “Justin Hammer has plan to break me out.” 

Tony spent the next forty minutes getting Ivan a lawyer. In that time, Tony learned Ivan’s terrible back story. And, once the lawyer was there, they got Ivan protection so that he would lay out Justin’s plan. It was a pretty decent plan. Monaco was one part playground for the rich, one part police state. It had the highest ratio of cops to civilians on Earth, and its laws were tight. Ivan told them the plan was written down, and the police confirmed that it was enough to arrest Hammer. 

Tony hated that he hadn’t brought the suit. “Family vacation,” he sighed. “I can’t help if things go down without a suit.”

“Palladium in chest, painful way to die,” said Ivan, studying Tony. Tony wondered what symptom the man could see. 

Tony sighed, “Yeah, I’m working on it. But the suit speeds it up.”

“I have my armor, Tones, I’m sure I can take Justin Hammer.” Turning to Ivan, he said, “You didn’t give him the plans for the arc reactor, right?”

“I did not share my father’s plans with anyone,” said Ivan, sounding affronted.

“Great, then we don’t have to worry about the idiot going off halfcocked and trying to build one.” Tony leaned forward and said, “Hammer isn’t bright: he’s opportunistic. He saw you — a genius — and latched on. He’s ambitious, but he’s never had the skill to do it alone.”

Tony heard a commotion outside the room, and Rhodey went to the window, “The cops have Hammer; he’s trying to kick them.”

“Oh good,” said Tony. He stood, “I’m going to go. Tonight I’m going home to the U.S. I’m going to find the proof that your dad was the co-inventor of the arc reactor. I going to change the paperwork and tell the world my dad lied. You’ve got a good lawyer and, while Monaco’s laws are strict, their prisons are cushy. Is there anything else you need?” The man raised an eyebrow. “My father accused yours of espionage, got him sent to Russia and then the Russians sent you and him to Siberia. I can’t fix that. But here and now, do you need anything?”

“I had bird, how ‘cushy’ is prison? Love my bird.” 

Tony turned to the jailer. “Good behavior after two months,” said the man.

The lawyer said, “If you get me the bird, Tony, I can look after it.” 

“Is your bird still in Russia?” asked Tony. Ivan nodded, “Do you know where the bird is?”

“Home,” said Ivan. 

Tony took out his phone and his speed dial fourteen. The call was answered with, “Agent Coulson.”

“Agent, remember how I antagonized Ross into saying no to letting The Abomination on your team, and you asked how much I charged for my time, and I said you owed me a favor?” 

“Damnit, Stark,” the man said. 

“You’re got a guy in Russia, right? A friend of mine has been arrested in Monaco, and his pet bird is at home, and the authorities say he can have it. So can you get whoever is in Russia to bring the bird to someone closer to get the bird to my friend’s lawyer? Please.”

“You made friends with the guy with the whips?”

“We’ve bonded over our mutual dislike of my father. I know that this isn’t gonna be hard with your organization.”

Agent sighed, “What’s the address?” Tony asked Ivan and relayed the address. “And the lawyer’s address?” He knew that off the top of his head. “Gimme a sec,” said Agent. Then he said, “Okay, I have two agents near there. Looking at routes and schedules, I can have the bird there in two weeks.”

“Thank you, Agent, we’re quits for the Ross thing.” 

“It was a five-minute conversation,” said Agent. 

“With Ross,” reminded Tony. “I got a black eye and had to buy an entire bar. My kid kept touching my eye for a week. Do you know what it feels like to have a toddler poke a bruise repeatedly?”

“Fine, if it gets the favor off my book.” 

“Thank you, Agent.” He hung up and said, “My friend will have him here in two weeks. His team are good people, your bird will be fine.”

“Thank you,” said Ivan. 

“Of course,” said Tony, “I’ll be in touch with you when I get the paperwork sorted out.” Standing, he said, “I wish you all the best.” They shook hands again. Despite his shackles, Ivan initiated it. Outside, he said to Rhodey, “I don’t feel right. I have to go home very soon, can you keep an eye to make sure Justin Hammer actually stays down? Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You take care of you, and I’ll keep an eye on the villain.”

“Thank you, not the way I thought Monaco would go.”

“Edwin tempered you,” said Rhodey as they went to the car. 

“Y’think?”

“Yeah, once upon a time, you wouldn’t have had a minute for Vanko. Now, you’re finding his pet.”

“I guess I’m in touch with daddy issues now,” said Tony sarcastically, sliding into the driver’s seat. “I was really looking forward to the race.” He tested his blood and was already up to nineteen percent. “Dinner on the plane, I think.”

They got back to the hotel where Win launched himself at Tony. “Daddy! Met driver and he had boo-boo, and he’s m’friend.”

“You made friends? That’s cool. I wish I had been there.”

“I filmed it,” said Happy.

“Thank you, Happy.” Natasha handed him a glass of the horrible crap that helped the slow poisoning. “Thanks, Natasha. I know we have a reservation for dinner, but I’m not feeling so hot.”

“Pepper, I’m staying until things are fully sorted out with Venko and Hammer,” said Rhodey. “If you have meetings and you need a ride home, I packed a flight suit for a passenger if you want to ride with The Machine.”

“Hammer?” repeated Pepper. 

“He and the whip guy, Ivan Vanko, were working together. Ivan spilled everything, it was written down,” said Tony. “Ivan’s nice; I got him a lawyer and traded my Agent Coulson favor for SHIELD retrieving his pet bird.” Pepper arched one perfect eyebrow. “My dad stole credit for the arc reactor from his dad and got his family deported. We talked about how much my dad sucked. I have to find the original plans. I’m sure Anton Venko’s name is there.”

“Really?” said Pepper.

Tony sighed, “We have hours on the plane, or you have adult dinner with Rhodey. We can talk about it all. But, right now, can I please watch the video of Win meeting a race driver and drink my gross drink?” 

“Daddy, wha’s this?” Win said, tugging at the neck of his t-shirt. 

“It’s my favorite t-shirt that isn’t stained. Please stop stretching it,” said Tony, kissing Win’s forehead.

“No, this, Daddy, this,” he poked at Tony’s neck. 

Tony carried Edwin into the bathroom. Still drinking his drink. He looked in the mirror and saw the weird black lines on his neck. He felt horrified, but he said, “I think it’s heat rash.” He cuddled Edwin close. 

“Did y’beat up the bad guy when he was with the police?”

“No, baby, he was actually a nice guy, just very, very angry. He was nice: he has a pet bird.”

“Wanna pet.”

“We have so many robots,” said Tony, rejoining the others. 

“Can I have robot mine?” asked Edwin.

“You want a robot of your very own?” asked Tony. 

“Really wanna puppy,” said Edwin. 

“When you’re old enough to walk it and clean up its poop, then we’ll talk.” Edwin nodded, and Tony said, “What about we get a fish? A Cleo?”

“Like Pinocchio?”

“Yeah, a pretty goldfish,” agreed Tony.

“What ‘bout a baby?”

“You want a little sister or brother?” asked Tony.

“Brother, please,” said Edwin with a nod.

“You’re going to need to learn how to negotiate. You can’t counter a fish with a sibling.” 

“You don’t want a brother, Win, then you have to share Daddy’s attention,” said Happy.

“Oh, a sister then,” said Edwin. 

“You’d still have to share me,” said Tony.

“A Cleo,” agreed Win.

Rhodey looked at Tony’s neck, and Tony repeated, “Heat rash,” with a meaningful look. No one was going to scare Edwin prematurely. 

“I am coming home with you,” said Pepper. “I’m supposed to have an interview with Christine Everhart, but I can put her off. Abel, who was driving the car, got a boo-boo in the crash. I’ll cite that. He’s leaving tonight too.”

“Does she know Justin was arrested?” asked Rhodey. 

“He was arrested? Handcuffs and everything?” asked Pepper. 

Tony nodded but said, “Hap, can I have your phone?” He didn’t want Edwin to hear it. Happy lined up the video and Tony took the phone into the bedroom, settling onto the bed he pulled Edwin into his lap. “I wanted to see this. I wanted to be there. I’m sorry, baby, I had to Iron Man for a little while.” They frequently used Iron Man as a verb. Tony thought it was sweet.

“But safe Iron Manning,” said Edwin. He was always worried about Tony getting hurt. Tony thought the anxiety came from how close they were and a lack of a mother. 

“Safe,” agreed Tony, cuddling Edwin closer. He hit play and watched as Edwin got so excited at meeting a “real live race driver.” Edwin bounced through the video. Abel, the driver, had more than a boo-boo. He had an arm in a sling and several steristrips holding together deep cuts. 

Abel was crouching, saying, “Your name is Win? That’s so cool.”

“It’s short for,” Then he looked at Pepper. 

“Edwin,” supplied Pepper.

“Yeah,” agreed Edwin. “Imma be a driver too,” Edwin told the Abel, smiling at him like he was a celebrity. “Daddy won’t drive fast in my car.”

“Well, no, you’re too precious. When my wife and two little girls are in the car, I don’t drive fast either. Precious cargo, y’gotta be safe.” 

“Tha’s what he says,” said Edwin, nodding. “He went to Iron Man the whips.”

“He’s going to Iron Man the man with the whips?” asked Abel, clarifying it.

Edwin nodded again, still bouncing, “Daddy says, gotta study hard, eat right and sleep lots t’ be driver.”

“He’s right, you’ve also gotta be good and listen to your dad. Good behavior is important for a driver.”

“Yeah,” agreed Edwin, he was going to agree with everything the man said. “Wha’s your fav’rite part of bein’ driver?”

“Driving such a cool, fast car. It’s so pretty and fun. You can’t drive a car like that on the roads.”

“Imma be just like you whe’ I grow up.”

“Nah, be like you. Then we can race against each other. But with a name like ‘Win,’ I believe I’m going to be out of luck.” He pulled a pair of white sunglasses out of his pocket and said, “These are my favorite sunglasses to drive in because they don’t block my side view.” He took a Sharpie from another pocket and signed the wide leg of the glasses. “Here’s the signature of a real live race car driver.” He probably carried dozens of the glasses to sign for fans, but Edwin reacted like it was gold.

“Wow, thank you,” said Edwin.

“I gotta go, y’wanna hug?”

“Sure!” said Edwin, with enthusiasm. Abel gave him a one-armed hug. 

“Great to meet you,” said Abel, pulling back.

“You too,” said Edwin. 

Abel stood and said, “Have a wonderful day, Win.”

“You too.”

Abel left, and Edwin grinned at Happy, behind the phone. “Uncle Happy, a real race car driver!”

“You met a real race car driver!” agreed Happy, sounding excited. “Let’s go back to the hotel, kid. Daddy will be back soon, and Aunt Pep has to do some work.” 

The video stopped, and Tony said, “Wow, Win. Do you still have your sunglasses?” Edwin nodded and scrambled out of Tony’s lap to bring the sunglasses from his bag where Happy or Natasha had packed them. He put them on, too big, with a grin. “Wow, Win. You look like a race car driver.”

Beaming, Win climbed back into Tony’s lap. “Watch it ‘gain?”

“Sure, we can watch it again,” said Tony. 

He kissed Edwin’s neck, and Edwin squirmed, “Tickles!”

“I know; it’s why I do it.” He hit play and cuddled Edwin closer. He watched the screen with his son, “You’re the love of my life, y’know that, right?” Edwin nodded. “Where’s my universe?”

“Un’er m’skin.”

“That’s right, my whole universe is under your skin. Everything I love, and everything I value, lives inside you.”

“Daddy, quiet: meetin’ the driver.”

“Okay,” agreed Tony.

***

It was only four days later when Tony was standing in front of a large group of reporters. “I have recently had lawyers correct the original patents of the arc reactor. My father always portrayed himself as the sole creator of the arc reactor. He was lying, and today, I am here to correct the record: its co-creator was a man named Anton Vanko.” He spoke of Anton Vanko and Ivan. He went into great detail about the man. “I did not know about this until Ivan’s rather brutal appearance at the Grand Prix in Monaco. Mr. Vanko thought I would ignore his claims, not believe him or would hide the truth. I have no interest in stealing credit from great men. Anton Vanko is the co-creator to the predecessor of the machine that keeps me alive and powers my armor and Colonel Rhodes’. My father had this man and his family wrongly deported.” Tony breathed out, “I will be answering some questions now.” Inevitably, Christine Everhart’s hand was up first, “Yes, Ms. Everhart.”

“How did you feel hearing that your father had stolen credit for work that wasn’t his? Did you believe Ivan Vanko?”

Tony nodded, “I had no reason not to believe him.” He spoke of the incredible difficulty of creating an arc reactor from scratch and the believability of Ivan Vanko’s story. “I had no reason not to believe him,” he repeated. “I came home and found the proof.”

“Follow up,” said the woman. “Your father was a great man. Does this impact your memories of him?”

Tony thought for several beats and said, “There are many moments I wish I could go back to in my life. The most obvious would be when I took over the company: I would have shut down the weapon production immediately. But, on a personal level, for purely selfish reasons, I would go back to the day of my parents’ funeral. My father’s butler, Mr. Edwin Jarvis, gave me advice. My son and computer are both named after him, a wonderful man. Before my son Win, Edwin, was born, I thought my computer — Just A Rather Very Intelligent System or JARVIS — would be my only child. On the day of the funeral, I didn’t know what to say in my father’s eulogy. Mr. Jarvis said, ‘Tony, tell them he was a great man. You don’t need to lie and say he was a good man.’ If I could go back, I would give myself different advice. I know Mr. Jarvis meant well, but… I would say, ‘Go out there and praise Mom, talk about how kind and loving she was. Then say, “As for Dad: I will not speak ill of the dead,” and walk away.’ It would have been good advice. I covered for my father’s reputation even after his death, and it hasn’t been healthy. But, I didn’t say that, didn’t want to cause a scene or upset Obadiah Stane. Obie was like an uncle…. He later put a hit on me, became the Iron Monger and tried to kill me with his own hands.” 

Taking a breath, he said, “My father was a mean, spiteful, abusive alcoholic. He was a futurist; he did a great deal for technology. He was a great man. But he was cruel and manipulative too. He was not a good man. At four, when I was injured, he would shout at me for crying because I wasn’t a child, he didn’t want a sissy for a son and Stark men are made of iron. He was a shouter, and a hitter and cold. When I was six, I went away to boarding school. When I came back for Thanksgiving, all of my toys were gone, my stuffed animals and fun puzzles — even my colorful LEGO. I was allowed erector sets — gray metal and screws. I wanted to be a chemist. My father said that kind of science was for weak men. Real men worked with their hands, and I was going to be an engineer. By the age of seven, when my dad was angry at me, he would make me drink two fingers of whiskey in two gulps. 

“At the time, I thought he was a jerk. Then when I was gearing up to be a dad. I went to therapy to get over Afghanistan, because I wasn’t doing well, and it brought up a lot of stuff about my dad. I was scared I would be like him. I always thought he was mean and spiteful, and then I had a baby, and I realized he wasn’t just a jerk. He was a twisted, brutal, abusive man — physically and mentally. I had alcohol poisoning three times that I can remember, by the age of ten. I wore long sleeves and pants in the middle of the summer to cover up for my father’s ‘temper.’ And I loved my mom, she was amazing but, if I had a partner who treated Win like my father treated me, I wouldn’t have that partner for another day. My dad didn’t have a gentle word or a minute of pleasant attention for me if I wasn’t proving my worth. 

“People talk about how I made a circuit board when I was four and a dirt bike motor at six. I had to if I wanted a moment of his positive attention. I wasn’t interested in engineering; I just wanted him to see me. And then — instead of getting an ‘Atta boy,’ which was what I wanted — he called reporters to show me off like a prize dog and pretended to care for a moment, would put a hand on my shoulder. My father was a cold, calculating man. He never told me he loved, never even said he liked me. My two-year-old son can hold a whole conversation and reads at a first-grade level. He’s genuinely brilliant, but I’m not going to book a reporter to meet him, I’m going to hold him in my lap, and turn the pages as he reads to me. He’s absolutely amazing, but he still has the fine motor skills of a two-year-old. I don’t need the press to see him for me to recognize his worth. He’s my baby, I adore him and I tell him that every day. I adore him when he’s not being brilliant and is just covered in finger-paint and having a tantrum. He’s my kid. He doesn’t have to do anything to earn my love. My baby doesn’t have a nanny; I work from home, and I cook his meals and high five him for not wetting himself in the night and change his Pull-Ups when he has accidents. I bathe him, I apply the fake tattoos he gets from the doctor’s office after taking him to the appointment, I take him to the park and watch the movie Cars with him far too many times. He has toys, and he cries when he falls because my father was a liar: Starks are not made of iron, we’re people. Crying isn’t a weakness; it’s just a reaction to pain. And children, no matter how smart they are, are only children. 

“Dad was a liar, and he stole all the credit for a creation of which he only deserved half. Ivan Vanko told me that, and I wasn’t shocked. Dad was a great and horrible man. Mr. Vanko’s actions at the Grand Prix were regrettable but were driven by anger at the man who ruined his life and his father’s. Ivan Vanko is not a bad man; he’s just had a very rough life. He directed his anger at Howard Stark’s brash, showoff, hail-fellow-well-met son. He thought I would call him a liar. He told me my dad was a life-ruining bastard, and I replied with, ‘Preach, brother: tell me what he did to you.’ I can’t fix what Dad did. But, Ivan Vanko wanted credit for his father’s work and for the world to recognize that my dad wasn’t a good man. So, I’m here to say, Dad lied to have a family deported, stole credit for work he did not do and was a really terrible person when he wasn’t in the public eye. Anton Vanko deserves credit, heartbreakingly, he receives it posthumously and only after his son inflicted violence upon others.”

***

Afterward, he was tired and chugged his gross sludge. Natasha came and said, “You make it really hard for me to write that you’re a self-obsessed narcissist when you go and correct a past wrong.”

“You’re a spy: you’re good at lying,” Tony reminded her. He tested his blood and sighed when he saw his blood was back up to twenty-one percent. “How did your SHIELD thing pan out?”

“Fury wants to wait until I’ve finished my report. He doesn’t want you to find out I’m SHIELD. And I need another week to sell that I did my research thoroughly. I already wrote the report. Want to read it?” 

“Sure, I need to get hooked up to the machine and Win’s asleep, so I don’t have anyone to read to me. Read it aloud?”

Tony sat down and plugged himself in. She cleared her throat, “After a month spent in the presence of Tony Stark, it is my official recommendation that Mr. Stark remains a consultant. The armor is amazing. Approach The Machine to join the Avengers Initiative. Mr. Stark is selfish in the worst way. He will never place himself in danger when others can take his place. Events in recent years have made Mr. Stark a more pleasant person, but his empathy only reaches so far as his inner circle.”

“That’s great,” he interrupted. “Even if Fury sees me being a good dad: you fixed it.”

“Thank you, I pride myself on my skills,” said Natasha. Tony couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic. “Mr. Stark’s extreme narcissism means he would be a danger on a team as he will not take direction and only behaves heroically for praise.”

“That’s at least forty percent true,” Tony interjected. 

Natasha smiled and kept going, “There is little bravery or honor in this man. Instead, he is fueled by bravado, arrogance, tantrums and adrenalin. He shows little forethought, self-destructive tendencies and textbook narcissism. Mr. Stark displays compulsive behaviors and takes too many risks. His presence on missions for the Avenger Initiative would endanger others on the team,” she finished and put down the file.

“Thank you, ‘Tasha,” said Tony.

“Win called me Aunt ‘Tasha this morning. I don’t think you’re getting rid of me.”

“You are welcome at our table anytime you like.”

“And you, improbably, are a good cook.”

“At kid food,” he agreed, with parameters. 

“I like kid food: scrambled eggs and roast chicken. You’re good at family meals.” She nodded at Tony’s arm, “Does that hurt?” 

“Nah, I just feel a little puke-y.” He shrugged, “It’s buying me time, but I can’t find anything that’s going to save me.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said.

“So, my birthday party is next week.”

“A big blow out,” said Natasha with a nod. “Everything is prepared, Mr. Stark,” she said in her personal assistant voice. 

“Good. I have no intention of going. What time is it in New York?”

Glancing at her watch, she said, “Five PM.”

“Okay, I have to call a friend. If he agrees to a party, I need help booking a bouncy castle, caterers and ordering a big cake in New York.”

“And do we need to order booze?” she asked. 

“No, it’s Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.”

“The Xavier School?” repeated Natasha.

“It’s part school, part orphanage. They have little kids, I take Edwin there for lots of playdates. He has friends there.”

“I know what it is. It’s the home for children with mutant genes.”

“Yeah, I wanted Edwin to grow up knowing that mutants are no different from us. And I’m paranoid about his safety. He’s not just a billionaire’s child; he’s the only son of Iron Man. I like having his playdates chaperoned by the X-Men. They have two kids around his age. He likes them, I like the X-Men. It’s always a fun afternoon. I think a kids’ party would be nicer than having a loud night club full of four hundred of So Cal’s who’s who. It might be my last birthday.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she repeated.

“Yeah, but I still don’t want to attend a rager in my honor. Once upon a time, I held my birthdays here. Then Edwin was born, and I started renting venues. Now, I’m not even going.”

“Your liver thanks you,” she said. “If they can’t have a party, might I suggest a family picnic? The Bluffs have whale watching, a nice playground and beautiful picnic areas.”

“Good idea,” he agreed. “JARVIS, call Charles,” he asked, and then there was ringing in the room. The man picked up, and Tony said, “Charles, it’s Tony Stark.”

“Tony, what a pleasure,” said the man, warmly.

“My birthday is coming up.”

“I received the invitation, but with the children, it’s impossible.”

“I understand. Since Edwin was born, I don’t go to all the parties. But it’s always nice to be invited. I’m not going to be attending either.”

“No?”

“I’m not well, I can’t face that sort of party and I thought it might be nice to have a party at the school. I could throw a party for the kids: bouncy castle, cake, balloon animals, some music and a piñata. I’d hire one of those party companies that entertain the kids so that the grownups can talk. I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.”

“Morris Party Company is good,” said Charles. “Call Barrow Catering, they’re good. They can make a cake and all the food. Will you be bringing anyone other than Edwin?”

“Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and my assistant Nat.”

“Saturday next? If you call those companies and tell them to do the usual for Xavier’s, we’ll have a great kid’s party.”

“Thank you, Charles. I want to have a fun day, and I can’t do a big grownup party. If the kids are distracted, we can have a nice chat.”

“That sounds wonderful, Tony. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m working on it, Charles, but a Malibu party would definitely harm my efforts. Thank you for this, Charles, I don’t want to upset your schedule.”

“Morris Party and Barrow Catering won’t ask many questions, we have one of these parties for all the birthdays. We do a half-day Friday, once a month. We have many year-round pupils who don’t have families. This is just an extra party. The pupils know you and Edwin, they’ll be happy to share your fun.” He gave Tony the two numbers to call.

“Seriously, thank you, Charles, I appreciate it.” They hung up, and he said, “Natasha, trash can.” Her spy reflexes saved him from vomiting on himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony sent the press conference footage, all the press coverage and the new paperwork to Ivan with a note, apologizing again. Ivan’s lawyer told him that Ivan appreciated it. Flying to Westchester was easy. Edwin slept most of the time, curled up on Tony’s chest. 

“He’s adorable, isn’t he?” asked Tony. “I know I’m biased. And I know that it’s vain because he looks just like me. But he’s so cute.”

“It’s the hair and the puppy dog eyes,” said Pepper.

“So, ‘Tasha, when are you handing in your report?” asked Tony. “Even after dialysis and my horrible drink, I was still at seventeen percent this morning.” 

“Tonight,” said Natasha, “I figured I could say I was waiting to do my final assessment until after your birthday party. Your rager would have been better to make you look immature. But, blowing off your own party for one with balloon animals and pony rides doesn’t make you look stable.”

“There’s pony rides?” Tony grinned, “Best birthday ever! Turning forty in style.” 

Happy laughed, “I think you’re too old for a pony ride.”

“I’ll let the pony handler be the judge of that.” To Natasha he said, “A lot of the people at Professor X’s school look very different. I know you’re a spy, and I know you’re a good person but some mutations can be quite startling. Be cool.”

“Of course,” she agreed.

“Are you Natasha or Natalie today? Fair warning, Win might screw it up.”

“I doubt Fury doesn’t know by now that you know my name. But even with a compromised ID, my analysis is still good. I’ve worked with some of the X-Men before. They know who I am. I’m Natasha.” 

Logan picked them up from the Westchester airport. Edwin bounced to him and said, “Logan! It’s Daddy’s birthday!”

“Happy birthday, Tony,” said Logan, with a smile. “The party people and caterers are setting up.”

“Are there really ponies or is Natasha messing with me?”

“Ponies for the under twelve set, bub. Not the grownups.”

“Disappointing,” said Tony. “Oh, Natasha, this is Logan. Logan, Natasha.”

They exchanged hellos and Logan said, “I’ve got the van.” He led the way out of the small airport. The dark green van had “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters” painted on the side. 

“You brought a school bus?” asked Happy. 

“You come in a group, I bring the school bus. Besides, it has a car seat for Win.”

“Thanks for the lift,” said Tony.

With a shrug Logan said, “Do you know what it’s like to share a house with sixty people under the age of eighteen when there’s a party in the afternoon and no class in the morning? Usually we can keep them focused until around noon. Today, not so much. Kitty and Hank woke me up by jumping on my bed and talking about Edwin and face painting. I almost stabbed them. I don’t know how many times I have to tell them not to startle me when I’m sleeping.”

“They aren’t in the dorms?” asked Tony. “What were they doing in your room?”

“They’re four, Tony. The little kids aren’t in the dorms; they’re in the main house.”

“Do you habitually sleep with a knife in a house full of kids?” asked Natasha. Logan flicked out his claws, “I didn’t realize that you’re Wolverine.” There was no surprise on her face though. That was just spy face, as far as Tony could tell. 

“I teach history,” he shrugged. “And I don’t react well to being startled awake.”

Tony snapped Edwin into his seat and they were off. “I have so many questions but I also don’t want to be rude,” said Natasha, “I’m SHIELD and we’ve referred so many kids to you over the years; I’ve always been curious.”

“SHIELD are good, they try to help people. Ask your questions. I’ll tell you if they’re rude.”

“Do you like it there?” she asked. 

“How is that rude?” he asked. “You could ask that of any live-in-teacher at any Pre-K through Twelve school… admittedly, there are very few boarding schools for three-year-olds. I like living with the little kids and I like teaching the big kids. But living with teenage hormones and teaching incredibly energetic five-year-olds ain’t my thing. The little kids like to read stories and cuddle and are sweet and the teenagers find it fascinating that I was born in 1886. The five-year-olds are sad when they find out we’re talking about the old days and not coloring and the teenagers have fallings out in the most irritating ways, usually sometime close to a meal when I don’t want to mediate their stupid arguments. Gym and health address controlling powers, that’s not my job. Only two classes in the whole curriculum address their otherness. Math, Science, Lit, History, Language, Philosophy and Ethics, Home Ec, Art, Music, Social Studies and Computer Sciences are all also required at all levels. We give them a very good education.”

“But is it a nice school? I’ve worried, in the past, sending vulnerable kids to a school instead of a family.”

“Oh,” he said, understanding. “It’s not just a school. Some of the kids have parents who love them, but they need protection and guidance. Many of them don’t have anyone and we act as their family. We know what it’s like to be different, shunned, or have bodies that betray us. We treat them like they are normal kids. They have toys and cuddling and love. They get a normal childhood and a good education. You should see our SAT scores. We get kids into college who know they will always have some place to go for summer break and Christmas. And the kids who are too different for the world always have a sanctuary or a spot in the faculty or on the X-Men. You don’t have to worry. They have very normal, nice life. I didn’t have a very nice life before I met Charles. Now, my biggest day-to-day problem is that Hank and Kitty get into my bed all the time. I don’t know why.”

“‘Cause you’re lovely,” said Edwin. 

“Thank you, Win, you’re a delight,” said Logan smiling at him in the rearview mirror.

“Yep,” agreed Edwin. 

“There’s one very important thing for you to know today, Natasha,” said Logan. “There is an extra special party at their home. The kids have been excited all week. You told the party company to do the full works. Usually we get one of the smaller party packages. We have the bouncy castle or the trampoline, the magician or the ponies, the bean bag toss and the chalk drawing contest or the characters, the face painter or the temporary tattoo guy, the dance party or the limbo. You ordered them all. This is bigger than our holiday party. We told the kids that it’s because Tony is crossing over the hill but this is the biggest party we’ve ever had. A lot of these kids look very different from you or me. You are a welcome guest in our home but if you make them feel uncomfortable in their home — on what should be a wonderful day — you will answer to me.”

“The mutants I’ve all met have been just people regardless of appearance,” said Natasha. “I assure you, I’m just here for the party.”

“Hank’s really long arms an’ feet,” said Edwin. “He an’ Kitty are m’best friends.”

“And they’re both so excited to see you,” said Logan with another warm smile. 

“Tattoos and face paints?” Edwin asked.

“Yup, they’re at the mansion.”

“Best party ever,” said Tony. “Good job, Natasha. Still bummed about the pony situation.”

“You’ll forget it once you’ve got a mocktail in your hand.” She added, “And, the party company said that we can keep the trampoline and bouncy castle on age rotations so you’ll get a chance to bounce. The party company apologized though, they couldn’t get a fireworks permit: we didn’t give ‘em enough notice.” 

“Still a better party than Malibu.”

“I saw the guest list in People,” said Logan. “Are you sure about this being better?”

“I’ve been sick,” said Tony. “It just sounds exhausting, I don’t want to schmooze and my body can’t take the booze.”

“We’re always happy to have you at the mansion, Tony,” said Logan. He pulled up to the gate and keyed in the code. As he pulled up the drive way he said, “Win, it looks like you’ve got a welcome party.” 

Kitty and Hank were sitting on the steps with Scott. Edwin started wriggling in his seat, “Daddy, wanna see my friends.”

“Wait until we’ve stopped,” said Tony and Edwin whined loudly. “Life is hard,” agreed Tony. 

Once they stopped, Tony unbuckled Edwin and he practically flew out of the car to hug his friends. Edwin waved at Natasha, “That’s Aunt ‘Tasha. ‘Tasha, Kitty an’ Hank.”

Natasha crouched in front of them, “It’s so nice to meet you both, Win talks about you a lot.” 

“It’s Daddy’s birthday,” said Edwin with excitement.

“Happy birthday, Mr. Stark,” said Kitty with a grin. 

“Thank you, Kitty,” said Tony, grinning at her. He gave Scott a brief hug. “Scott this is,” he began.

“Agent Romanoff,” Scott finished, “It’s a pleasure to see you.”

“We worked together, once,” Natasha said to Tony. Then to Scott she said, “Mr. Summers, I’m just Natasha today. I’ve been doing a SHIELD assessment of Tony while acting as his assistant.”

“Well, Natasha, it’s Scott, and it’s going to be a fun party: you really pulled out all the stops.”

“Tony only turns forty once.”

“Face paint?” said Edwin, hopefully. 

“And tattoos and so much stuff,” said Hank, linking their arms, “Let’s skip.” Edwin took Kitty’s arm and the three of them skipped into the house. Win wasn’t great at skipping, his friends were older but he did his best.

“They’re so sweet,” said Scott, “you could get a cavity watching them.”

“I want to freeze them in time,” said Tony.

“I know a guy who could do that. He’s in prison,” said Jean walking out and kissing Tony’s cheek, “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

“Who planned this shindig?” asked Jean.

“Ms. Grey,” said Natasha with a smile as Tony pointed at her with finger guns. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Did you tell them how old Tony was turning?”

Natasha nodded, “Did they listen?”

“It’s perfect,” said Jean. 

They walked back through the house into the giant back yard. It looked like a carnival had vomited. A guy in a “fun” outfit appeared. He blinked and said, “Mr. Stark.”

“Hi,” agreed Tony. 

“You’re the birthday boy; you’re ‘Tony’,” the man looked worried.

“Yes,” agreed Tony.

“I thought you were four,” admitted the man. “Do you still want the balloon crown?” 

“Yes,” said Tony, emphatically. He saw people in costumes and said, “Do you have Iron Man and The Machine impersonators?”

The man nodded, looked worried, “I was told to do the superhero package and that they were your favorite heroes.” 

Tony grinned. He tugged on Natasha’s arm, “I’d like to introduce my assistant, Nat: she’s getting a raise.”

“I thought you would like it and I thought they might overrule me if I told them you were turning forty.”

“Give yourself a bonus, Nat,” said Tony as the man crowned him. “Best birthday ever,” said Tony.

Tony was greeted by X-Men, members of the staff and kids. Pepper fell into a conversation with Jean, Happy was talking to Ororo and Rhodey and Natasha were talking to Pyotr in Russian. Tony went to where Edwin was at the back of the line for face paint and Tony said, “Baby, take a picture with me.”

Edwin leaned into him and grinned at Tony’s phone. Tony snapped the shot, making sure his crown was fully visible. He posted it to Instagram with the caption “#TFW it’s your birthday and you get a balloon crown.” He didn’t want reporters taking pictures of Edwin, because he wanted him to have a normal childhood without being followed. But his Instagram was chock full of photos of his kid just like every other parent in America. “Thank you, Win,” he said as he posted it. “What are you getting?”

“Kitty’s getting’ a cat face, Hank’s gonna be Iron Man, I’m gonna be a lizard.” 

“Cool. Good choices, especially you, Hank,” said Tony. Looking at the board Tony said, “I want the cool starburst.”

People came over to wish Tony a happy birthday and Marie came over with popsicles. Her hair was up beautifully, with the white twined in. “Like the do,” said Tony.

“Thanks,” She held up popsicles, “Blue or pink.”

“Pink, please,” said Tony.

“How does it feel to be so old?” she asked.

“So old,” he agreed. 

***

The afternoon was fun and over the top. He excused himself once, to a small butler’s pantry, to change out the palladium for another core. Charles came in and said, “Oh, Tony, I didn’t mean to intrude. The caterers ran out of green tea. I just came in to back up the supply. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tony held up the spent core, still smoking, “Swapping out my battery for a new one.”

“That was in your chest?” asked Charles. 

“Yeah, I’m burning through them. The palladium is making me sick.” He tested his blood and said, “Twenty-nine percent blood toxicity.”

“How long, Tony?” asked Charles, his tone was worried. Anyone would sound concerned when asking how long a friend had to live. 

“About six weeks left before I have to hook myself up to a car battery or die. I’ve been drinking this disgusting stuff to stop the side effects, slow it down, I’m doing dialysis too. Rhodey is helping me. He’s keeping me out of the suit and helping with the science. I’ll be okay. I just wanted a fun day,” said Tony. 

Charles took a case of green tea from the fridges and said, “Are you having a good time?”

“Yes,” said Tony pointed at his face, “I have a starburst face and,” he flipped his hand to show the temporary tattoo, “A bald eagle on my wrist, what more could I ask for? This was exactly the day I wanted.” Charles rested the case on his lap and they went back to the party. 

“Tony,” Pepper called, “Would you please do a video for the party? For me, please. After the Monaco thing, we have kept things level but now you and the CEO have ditched your big party.” She held out his thermos and said, “Also, drink that; it’s time.”

“I have an assistant to remind me to drink, Pep,” said Tony. 

“Natasha and Pyotr are talking about sports, maybe… I don’t speak Russian. But the tone implies sports.” He chugged down his drink and handed her the empty thermos, which she put back in her huge purse. “I got you a link to the party you just have to hit call,” she said.

Looking at the sunflower on her cheek, he said, “Wanna be in it with me?” 

“Sure,” she agreed. 

“Charles, I’m going to call Edwin over to wave at the camera. I’m sure he’s going to ask if Kitty and Hank can be in it. It’s going to end up on YouTube.”

“Hank will never pass in society as a non-mutant. Kitty is very young and covered in face paint. No one would recognize her in a few years,” said Charles. “I don’t see a problem with them being in it.”

Tony called Edwin over and he brought Hank and Kitty. “I’m gonna make a video for the party in Malibu. Do you three want to be in it with Pepper and me?”

Hank froze, “I look weird.” His extremities were too large; he’d gained the nickname Beast for having the proportions of a gorilla. 

“You look awesome,” said Tony, “With that face paint? You’re Iron Man. You don’t have to be in the video if you don’t want to. That’s okay, but you shouldn’t worry about what the stupid people at my boring birthday party think: you’re at the good party. But you don’t have to be in it, if you don’t want.”

Hank thought about it and then said, “I want to show off my face paint.” 

There were picnic tables set up all around. They ended up with a lot of people in the picture, kids asking if they could be in it. X-Men wanted in on the fun — they were public figures and people knew they were mutants, whether or not they looked different. Rhodey had face paint styled after The Machine and Tony said, “Rhodey, baby, with that face paint, y’have to be in it.” 

Natasha took the camera and said, “I can film it. I’m ready when you are.”

Tony turned on his press smile, bright, wide and handsome. “Hi everyone. Sorry I couldn’t make it to my party. I hope you’re all having a great time, you’ve got DJ Goldstein and all the best booze so: eat, schmooze and be merry. I’ve been a little under the weather and my liver couldn’t face a grownup rager so we’re having a kid rager at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters as Professor X and the X-Men graciously agreed to host. We have ponies, face painting and a magic show.” 

“There’s gonna be dance party: wi’ glow sticks,” said Edwin, with a huge smile.

“We told the DJ we like Katy Perry,” added Hank, Edwin and Kitty nodded.

“Great,” said Tony with a grin. “Did you tell her I like AC/DC?”

“No, old people music is bad,” said Kitty earnestly. 

“I’m not old,” Tony protested. 

“Forty’s pretty old,” Hank said. 

“Thank you for that, Hank: very kind,” said Tony. Turning back to the camera he said, “Sorry I couldn’t be there. Thank you for coming. Have a great time. We have a car service set up for all our guests: please take a ride home on me. And, on one final note, this is going on the internet, so, villains of the world, don’t take this as an opportunity. This is a dry party. The X-Men aren’t at a disadvantage. All that’s different today is that Iron Man and The Machine are on hand. Look at The Machine’s face paint: you’ll be punched by The Machine squared. Please don’t be tacky and ruin my birthday. You won’t win, you’ll just interrupt a good party.” 

“Bye, everyone,” said Edwin waving at the camera. 

Everyone joined in waving and Natasha said, “Great; got it.”

***

Tony handed Natasha his phone before the magic show saying, “Pepper, as my assistant, has always been in charge of my social media while I’m busy. My personal brand is important. Can you do it?”

“I researched your profiles before infiltrating SI. I can easily emulate your voice.”

“Are you sure? Because I need it on all platforms.”

“Tony, I’ve toppled regimes: I can handle your social media.”

“And check with an X-Man before posting pictures with kids’ visible faces,” he said. 

She nodded, “I’ve got this.” 

He got called up to the stage to help with a magic show. The kids thought it was great, the grownups thought it was hilarious. The food was good and the Shirley Temples were on point. The man in a “fun” outfit told Tony, embarrassed, that they always brought the birthday child a gift. Tony opened the box with excitement to find plush dolls of Iron Man and The Machine holding hands. “That’s truly beautiful.” The man still looked embarrassed and Tony said, “This might genuinely be my best birthday ever; relax: you’re doing it right. My assistant told you I was four because this is my level.” He smiled, looking at the dolls. “My kid is totally going to steal this: he loves stuffed animals and Iron Man. I’m going to enjoy it while I can before it becomes his.”

He had Natasha take a photo of Rhodey and him with the toy and the impersonators. They had cake, played on the trampoline, And Tony loved every moment. The afternoon pushed into evening and there was a dance party and, yes, there were glow sticks and necklaces. The party wrapped up around nine, the kids were dragging, the teenagers were still having a great time and turned on the mansion’s sound system to keep their party going. 

***

Tony reviewed his profiles on the plane, reading all of the posts. Natasha had used the hashtag #FunfairForForty. They were funny, many self-deprecating. All of them read like he had written them. He signed into his bank and moved some money around. Natasha’s phone beeped and she said, “Tony, did you just transfer fourteen thousand dollars to me?”

“That’s as much as you can receive as a gift without taxes. It’s also what I usually tip party planners if I enjoy the party.”

“That’s entirely true,” agreed Pepper. 

“Great party,” said Tony. Edwin was curled up on his chest, he had his dummy in and his Iron Teddy cuddled close. He was sleeping deeply. “It was a really nice day.”

“Your real party doesn’t start for another hour and a half,” Happy said. 

Tony laughed, “We were at the real party, Hap.” He held his phone out, taking a photo of the green face paint that had rubbed off Edwin’s face onto his shirt and posted it with the caption, “All good parties end with someone’s makeup on your collar. #FunfairForForty” He pushed the button on the couch he was sitting on and it slowly moved to become a full sized bed. “Talk amongst yourselves. I’m going to take a nap. You don’t have to keep your voices down.” He tugged the blanket over them both as he laid down, snuggling into Edwin. The others were talking but Tony just breathed in the comforting familial scent of Edwin’s hair and let himself drift off. 

***

He woke up early, without a hangover or the usual pain that accompanied the morning after a party. He was making coffee when Natasha came in wearing a black cat suit. “I thought my birthday was yesterday?”

She gave him a small smile, “Tony, Fury authorized me to do this,” She leaned forward and stabbed him in the neck with a syringe.

“Ow. What was that? I thought we were friends.” he asked. But suddenly it was easier to breathe.

“Lithium dioxide. It’s gonna take the edge off. Fury knew that my ID was compromised but he didn’t want you to feel somehow in my debt while I was writing the report.”

“My chest feels so much looser.”

“And your rash is clearing up. Fury will be here in a few minutes to talk to you about research.”

“Is he bringing breakfast or a birthday present? He’s entering a house with a toddler the day after my fortieth birthday. I expect either a gift my kid can tear the paper off of or breakfast,” he took a sip and leaned against the counter. “I always do a doughnut run on Sundays.” 

Natasha raised an eyebrow and said, “He’s bringing you help for your heart.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that my two and a half year old is going to wake up in a half hour excited for special breakfast,” said Tony. He shrugged, “These two facts are not linked, ‘Tasha.” She started typing into her phone. “Thank you,” he said and she gave him a tiny smile. He poured her a coffee and said, “So, will you be sticking around? You’re a surprisingly good assistant.”

“You’re not a very hard task master,” she said. 

Laughing he said, “Be glad you met me now. Until two and half years ago, Pepper’s day started with picking up my dry cleaning and pushing a woman out of my bed at seven am. She would then spend the next two hours trying to get me out of my workshop, into a suit, force me to eat something and try to push me to the office. She would try to clean up all the empties, corral me and had to not only know my schedule but the whys of the schedule. Poor Pep. Her day didn’t usually end until at least midnight. Nowadays, the problems with my schedule aren’t me getting distracted by a hot people, booze or a really cool project. Now, it’s baby tantrums, naptime, cooking a meal or a really cool project. The cool projects usually make money in the end. I go to bed around ten thirty. You have an easier job, even if you were a real assistant and not a plant.”

Edwin ran in saying, “My Pull-Ups dry!”

“Yay!” agreed Tony, high fiving Edwin. 

“Doughnut day!” he said. 

“Yeah, ‘Tasha’s boss Nick is bringing breakfast.” Tony said with a smile. “Y’want some milk or juice before breakfast?”

“Milk, please,” said Edwin scrambling up into his booster seat. “Aunt ‘Tasha, y’gotta go to other job?” 

“I’m not sure yet, honey,” she said with a smile. “It’ll all depend on my other workload.”

“I hope y’get to stay ‘cause ‘morrow we’re gonna bake cookies and then ‘Anny’s coming!”

“I hope I can stay: your daddy is a very good cook and I would like to try the cookies.”

“They got ginger in!” said Edwin, gleefully. 

There was a knock at the door and Natasha said, “I’ll get it.”

“Breakfast?” asked Edwin, hopefully. 

Tony nodded, “I don’t know what he brought.”

Natasha ushered Fury into the kitchen and Tony said, “Win, this is Aunt ‘Tasha’s boss: Nick.”

Edwin’s mouth fell open, he looked at the man’s black outfit, long coat and eyepatch, “Pirate?” he asked, with excitement.

“No, baby, some people lose their eyes because of accidents,” said Tony. “Fury, this is my son: Win.”

“Hello, Win,” said Fury.

“‘Ick, it’s Daddy’s birthday. We had big party wi’ friends.”

“I saw, your daddy put some nice pictures up. It looked fun. I brought you a doughnut from a place called Glaze.” 

“Yum,” said Edwin, “I like Glaze.”

Nick opened the box and showed them a giant doughnut iced with the words “Happy Birthday!” 

“Wow, look at that!” Tony beamed at Edwin. “Thank you, Nick. Would you like a slice?”

“I’m on a schedule here,” said Fury, sounding irritated.

“So no slice for you,” said Tony easily as he cut himself, Natasha and Edwin slices. “Win, stay here and eat birthday doughnut with Aunt ‘Tasha. I’m gonna have a boring conversation Nick.”

“Thank you fer breakfast, ‘Ick,” said Win, spearing a bite of his doughnut. “Can we keep Aunt ‘Tasha? Like her. ‘Anny will like it.”

“Nanny doesn’t run SHIELD anymore, Win, that’s Nick’s job now.”

“Oh,” said Win, “Well, I’d like it.” 

“We’ll see, Win, either way, you’ll see Aunt ‘Tasha soon,” promised Tony. 

He led Nick out of the kitchen. The whole floor was open and Tony ushered the man out back where Win wouldn’t hear. He looked out over the cliffs and said, “So, ‘Tasha thought you might have some ideas about my health.”

“That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology,” said Fury, looking at Tony’s ratty tank top, where some of the light was shining through. It made Tony self-conscious. His tank top was too ratty for anything but sleep and the workshop. No one ever saw the arc reactor. 

“No, it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it.”

“No. Howard said the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery.”

“That’s why he had Vanko deported,” said Tony, “because Vanko would have horned in on it.”

“Your father was a complicated man,” said Fury.

“My father was an asshole,” Tony snapped. 

“He was a founding member of SHIELD,” said Fury.

“Changes nothing,” said Tony. 

“He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.”

“Was he drunk? He was never my fan. So it’s a little tough for me to digest when you’re telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he’s passing it down. I don’t get that. You’re talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school.”

“That’s not true,” said the man.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know, Nick, don’t talk about my father’s opinions of me. You never saw how he acted behind closed doors.”

Fury nodded slowly, “Maybe he was an asshole but he thought you were smart. He was unlocking a whole new power source and he couldn’t do it. But he thought you could, so are you that guy? Are you? ‘Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart.”

Men brought in a big box into his living room, “Wait, wait, what is this?”

“You’ve got this, right?” asked Fury. Walking back inside he said, “You remember Coulson.”

“If I’m getting a minder, I want ‘Tasha.”

Fury shook his head and handed him a file, “Agent Romanoff was writing a report on you for evaluation for the Avenger Initiative. She’s not on your assignment anymore.”

“I’m not joining your boyband,” said Tony, opening it he read and pretended to be offended. Snapping the folder shut he said, “I don’t care what ‘Tasha thinks of me. Besides, if my empathy only stretches as far as my inner circle, I guess she made the cut. Win likes her, if there is gonna be someone looking over my shoulder, I want her.” Rhodey came down in sweats and Tony introduced them with a grin, “Colonel Fury, Colonel Rhodes. Colonel Rhodes, Colonel Fury.”

“Uncle Rhodey, look at doughnut ‘Ick bought,” said Win, with excitement. 

“Now that is special breakfast,” said Rhodey with a smile.

“Fury brought over a lot of Howard’s old research on energy. There might be a new power source.”

“Let me grab some coffee and we can start going through it.”

“This is all classified SHIELD material, top level with exceptions. He left this to us for you, not SI, not the public,” said Fury. 

“Rhodey is my brother, he is a respected colonel, The Machine and an aerospace engineer. ‘Tasha’s report says you should get him in on the Avenger Initiative. Rhodey is helping.”

“Right after coffee and doughnut,” agreed Rhodey.

“It’s good doughnut,” said Edwin, spearing another small bite on his oversized fork.

“Great,” said Rhodey. 

“I have an eleven,” said Fury. 

“Of course,” said Tony. “We’re keeping ‘Tasha, at least until you have a real assignment for her. I might need her as an assistant.” 

“How long is Aunt ‘Tasha gonna stay?” asked Edwin. 

“Until Uncle Rhodey and I figure out how to stop me from being sick. Right, Nick?”

The man exhaled heavily, “I need you in Belize in a week, Agent Romanoff.”

She nodded and Tony said, “Thanks for the doughnut, Nick.” He took his first bite, “That’s delicious.” 

Once the man was gone Tony and Rhodey carried the box down and started working through it. There was a film and Tony set up an old projector to watch it. Edwin climbed into his lap, cuddling the Iron Teddy to his chest. On the screen there was Howard and Tony said, “That was my father, Win. His name was Howard.”

Edwin scrunched up his face, confused, “Grandad Edwin?”

“Grandad Edwin was my dad but he wasn’t my father,” said Tony. Edwin still looked confused. “Someday you’ll understand.”

Howard was drunk and showing off in the video. Then Tony was there, tiny, slightly older than Edwin. His father shouted at him and then called for his mom. Tony flinched at the scene. Then it cut to Howard speaking directly to Tony about how the Stark Expo was the key to the future. He finished by saying, “What is, and always will be, my greatest creation is you.” 

Breathing slowly, Tony covered Edwin’s ears and said, “Fuck you, you evil bastard,” looking at the screen. He gently kissed the top of Edwin’s head and released his ears. 

“What did you say, Daddy?”

“Nothing, baby.”

He looked at Rhodey and Rhodey looked at him. “Watch it again; there’s something there,” said Rhodey. 

They watched it three times and Rhodey said, “He’s looking at the model, when he says that he built it for you and that it represents more than people’s inventions: he’s talking about the model itself.”

“It’s in my office, Pepper’s office.” He said, “J, ask Natasha to get some men to bring the model over. They can get anything Pepper doesn’t like in the office.” Then he paused, “What’s Natasha doing? Does she know we’re having fun down here?”

“She is rearranging your schedule. You keep blowing people off, Sir. She’s sending gift baskets and rearranging next week.” 

“J, can we keep her?”

“Most likely not, Sir. This isn’t Agent Romanoff’s real job. Though I do like her too. She speaks to me. A lot of people don’t speak to me.”

“I like Aunt ‘Tasha,” agreed Edwin. They finally got dressed for the day, Tony and Edwin always kept their PJs on for most of Sunday. Edwin added play fairy wings over his clothes. 

“Nice,” agreed Tony, nodding. 

The model came and Tony just stared at it for a few moments. He had loathed it at as a child. His father had obsessed over the Expo. And he’d built a beautiful model that looked so fun to play with. Tony had wanted to run his little metal cars down the paths. Howard hadn’t let him touch the lovely model. He loved the model in a way he had never loved Tony. It had become an ornament in his office and later Tony’s. It was an “important part of the company’s history.” 

Tony had the men put it in the living room and asked JARVIS to scan it so they could examine it in the workshop. Edwin looked at the model with wonder and said, “I’s a little town.”

“Yes, it’s the Expo in New York. This is what it looked like when I was four.”

“Daddy, I play it?” asked Edwin.

“J, do we have an exact scan?”

“Yes, sir, the physical model is irrelevant.”

“Then sure, baby, it can be a playset for matchbox cars.”

Edwin studied the model with a happy gleam in his eye. It was probably the exact rapturous expression Tony had once had. “Duplo figures?”

“Yes, you can make it a town for your Duplo people.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome, Win. Can I play with it with you?” Edwin nodded enthusiastically. “Good. Uncle Rhodey and I are going down to the workshop. Do you want to stay up here with Aunt ‘Tasha and play?” Edwin nodded again. “Okay, have fun.” 

Down in the workshop, Tony and Rhodey studied the model, removing buildings, paths. It took three hours to realign it and then Tony gasped. “It’s an element. That asshole discovered an element.” He moved his hands, making it snap into place. “So we need to build it. And test it. And hopefully get it into my chest soon.” They started to design a machine to build it. “We can crank this out in twelve hours.”

“If we want to do a bad job, sure,” agreed Rhodey. “If we want to be safe, it’s going to take a couple of days.”

“C’mon, Rhodey,” Tony whined. “I want it now.”

“Tony, you are a visionary creator, brilliant programmer, and pretty damn amazing with a design. But… your actual builds.”

“What’s wrong with my builds?”

“DUM-E’s fine motor skills leave much to be desired. You built the fabrication units for a reason. They work with precision that you usually disregard in favor of speed and enthusiasm.”

“DUM-E is a good robot.”

“No, Tony, he’s brilliant. He, U and Butterfingers are all brilliant. Their coding is amazing. But their bodies are clumsy and clunky. So, please, for once, listen to the aerospace engineer: precision and safety are important. Especially if we’re planning on shoving the result into your body.”

“The Expo’s first night of real presentations starts in four days. Pep said that, even though she’s the CEO, I’m still allowed to do the opening night as it’s the only thing I’ve been interested in in months. I need to be there.”

“What you need is a functioning arc reactor and healthy blood. What you need is to be there to calm him down the morning of Win’s wedding. You want to be at the Expo, you would like to be at the Expo. It is not a need. If you can’t fly in in the armor, we put you and Win in matching tuxedos and you walk in with him on your hip as the Ironettes dance it out. You could still do it without the suit.”

“The suit is cooler than a tux,” said Tony.

“Being around for your grandkids is cooler than the suit,” said Rhodey.

“You are so lame.”

Rhodey lost his cool and shouted, “You’re dying, Tony, please: be lame for once in your damn life. You are dying. For Win’s sake, for my sake, and Pep, and Happy, and Sharon, and Peggy: be lame. We don’t need you to be cool; we just need you to be here.”

“But cool is what I’ve got,” replied Tony, quietly.

“No, Tony,” Rhodey said, still pissed. “What you’ve got is a son and a family who love you. You’re image means nothing to us. We don’t care. And I know that you do, but there will be another opportunity to look cool. For instance, when you present the creation of a new element at the Expo.”

Tony blinked and said, “Baby, you’re a genius: The Machine and Iron Man — two metal men presenting their new metal at the Expo.”

“Tony, this is yours,” said Rhodey, half laughing, finally relaxing.

“Really? Cause, you realized it was the model and now you’re making the equipment safe, so how is this not yours too?”

“Sirs,” said JARVIS. “I’m running diagnostics on the element. It’s not actually new.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tony. 

“It’s vibranium,” said JARVIS, “Hitherto thought to be impossible to synthesize.”

“So, we have figured out a way to synthesize one of the rarest elements on Earth,” said Tony. 

“Suck it, Howard,” said Rhodey, “mean old bastard.”

“Fury tried to talk about the old man,” said Tony taking a sip of his sludge.

“I don’t like Fury. He wants me to join the Avengers Initiative.”

“They’d be lucky to have you,” said Tony. 

“The Airforce already has me,” he shrugged, “I told him I would help if it was bad but that I’m not a superhero. I’m a soldier trusted with superhero tech. I don’t want to join a superhero team. But I really do miss us in a lab space.”

“I don’t think this workshop is clean enough to be considered a laboratory,” said Tony, looking around. 

“Engineering labs are not sterile,” said Rhodey. “I love this space.”

“I’ll drink to that: you and me in a workshop,” Tony raised his glass of sludge and tapped it against Rhodey’s can of Coke.

***

It took three days of careful measurements and preparation for a process that lasted two minutes. They were left with a small triangle of metal. Tony and Rhodey wrote it all up and sent it to R&D to start the patent paperwork. Jarvis started running tests as Tony did modifications to an arc reactor to fit the new core. Natasha packed for him and Edwin for their visit to New York. He did dialysis, staring at the metal triangle. 

“Tony,” Rhodey reprimanded.

“I can see the solution: it’s sitting right there.”

“We know that the palladium is poisoning you: we don’t know what the vibranium would do. In twelve hours we’ll know. Then we can fly off to New York, you can wear a tux with Win and then by the time we’re ready to present this, you’ll be back in the suit. You know that the idea of Win in that teeny tiny tux is too good to pass up.”

“We’ve got fireworks and the Ironettes but he’s gonna be the star,” said Tony with a grin. “He’s been so pumped about the Expo and he’s such a showoff that he’ll love it.”

“He’s an adorable little showboat,” agreed Rhodey. 

“I’m thinking we’ll set up two landing stations on the stage, fly in land in cool poses and introduce our new metal.”

“I don’t want to fly in to Back in Black or Shoot to Thrill,” said Rhodey.

“Let There be Rock?” suggested Tony.

“We Will Rock You,” Rhodey said. 

“Yes,” agreed Tony. Looking at the machine he said, “Dialysis sucks.”

“You are doing so well, Tony, I mean, how are you feeling now verses when you called me?”

“I feel slightly better than when I called you. And considering how rapidly I was deteriorating beforehand… I love you, Rhodey.”

“I love you too, Tony.”

“Sirs,” said JARVIS. 

“Sorry, J, I didn’t mean to leave you out. I love you too. You know I do; I made you as close to perfect as I could.”

“Thank you, Sir. When I first came online, I performed my tasks because my programming told me to do so. Now, I do so because, why wouldn’t I? I do things proactively without my code telling me to because I know we’ll need them for our tasks. This is what we do. I don’t work for you any more, Sir, I work with you. You are my boss; I must obey you but I don’t simply take your orders.”

“Aww, J, that’s the sweetest thing you could say.”

“It’s true, but that isn’t why I interrupted your touching moment with Colonel Rhodes. I’ve finished your tests. It’s going to be painful for the first couple of hours. I suggest disconnecting the dialysis; the vibranium will do it for you… you will be urinating quite a lot. The good news is, you don’t need to drink the medical smoothie. But drink a lot of water.”

Rhodey brought the vibranium over to him and Tony unhooked the dialysis and slotted the vibranium into the arc reactor. He quickly swapped it out and the pain slammed into him. “Oh! Wow. That tastes like coconut. And metal. Oh wow, yeah!” he breathed out. 

“Are you okay?”

“I have to pee, badly, and I don’t know if I can get to my feet,” said Tony, honestly. Rhodey hooked his arms under Tony’s armpits and got him into the lab’s bathroom.

“Can you stand to take a leak?” asked Rhodey. 

“I’m good, thank you.”

“It wouldn’t have been the worst thing I’ve done for you. I’ll get you some water.”

Edwin tromped down the stairs and said, “Daddy, are y’done with machine? Wanna play. Aunt ‘Tasha’s packing and bored watching.” He had become bored by the dialysis. He no longer found the machine interesting to watch. 

Tony was still peeing, but Edwin was a baby with no concept of privacy. He came and stood in the bathroom door, “Win, my new arc reactor is forcing me to pee.”

“Why?” asked Edwin.

“Because it’s getting everything that made me sick out of my system. It’s doing what the machine was trying to do.”

“How pee stuff out?” asked Edwin.

Tony explained how the liver and kidneys worked as he finally finished urinating. He washed his hands and said, “J, what diagnostics do you have to do?”

“I need you to stay in the lab and heighten your pulse,” said JARVIS. 

Rhodey came back with a glass of water that Tony thirstily drank. 

“Win, y’wanna dance with me?” he asked and Edwin nodded enthusiastically. “JARVIS, drop a beat.” Taylor Swift started playing and Tony sighed as Edwin jumped up and down with excitement. “Mean, J.” He started dancing with Edwin, spinning him and having fun despite the music. Edwin shouted along with the music, too young to carry a tune. After three songs the music stopped. 

“Your physical reactions are very good. I would like a blood test.” Tony went to get his little tester but Jarvis said, “Vials, please.”

“JARVIS is a vampire,” Tony said, conspiratorially to Edwin. He looked through his rather substantial medical kit and found what he needed. “Rhodey, can you help me? It’s the wrong hand.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing, but sure. Talk me through it?” 

“Sure,” agreed Tony. Tony explained the process and Rhodey handled it like a pro. 

“Hurts?” asked Edwin, looking at the needle.

“No, not really,” said Tony. “It’s just un-comfy.”

“Dummy?” offered Edwin, taking one from his pocket. 

“That is a very kind offer,” said Tony. “I don’t find dummies comforting.”

“Me?” asked Edwin.

“You’re very comforting,” he offered his free arm to Edwin who tucked himself into Tony’s side. “That’s much better. How many vials, JARVIS?”

“Just two, Sir.”

Natasha came down and surveyed the scene. “You have a vibranium core.”

“I’m feeling better already,” said Tony. “You coming to New York with us or are you off to Belize?”

“I think I have to be… right after you and Win step off that stage. I can’t wait to see Win in a tux.” She smiled at Edwin and he grinned back. 

“Daddy’ll be Iron Manning soon. Do you have superhero name, Aunt ‘Tasha?” 

She nodded, “Yes, I do, at SHIELD I am the Black Widow.” His mouth opened wide. “I’m a spy and I beat up bad guys.”

“Really?” he asked. “Really, really?”

“All the reallies,” agreed Natasha, having heard the ritual before. “I am the Black Widow. You’re all packed,” said Natasha.

“Thanks, ‘Tasha. I might need a new assistant.”

“Sadly, I won’t be around to help you find him or her.”

“Her,” said Tony. “I like Win to see strong women in professional roles.”

“Don’t have a mom,” said Edwin. “Peppa Pig got a mom.”

“I know Peppa has a mom and as you’ve only got a daddy, I want to make sure you have female role models to look up to in your life.”

“Don’t you think there would be some merit in having a man in a typically female role?” Natasha asked.

“He has a man in a woman’s role: his dad cooks dinner and gets him dressed.”

“What’s for dinner t’night, Daddy?”

“We’re actually gonna order tonight, Win. Thai.”

“Yum.”

“In fact, J, can you call in the usual order for us and Hap and Pep, plus six iced teas and,” he turned to Rhodey and Natasha, “what do you guys want?” He texted Pepper and Happy, “I’m officially not dying. The vibranium is working. Come celebrate with Thai food.”

He drank another three glasses of water and peed six more times before he felt normal and breathing felt totally comfortable. Testing his blood with a finger stick it came up with a blood toxicity of zero. He showed it off happily. Happy popped the champagne and Tony had a small glass, not fully trusting his body yet. He ate and then bathed Edwin and asked him if he was excited for the next day. 

“We go to stage with suit and say hi then listen to scientist and waffles dinner, right?”

“Right, Elon Musk is talking and doing a presentation. He’s cool, you’ll like his work. And then waffles.” He told Edwin two poems, “Goodnight, Edwin,” and “No More Coffee, Daddy.” He cuddled with Edwin until he fell asleep and then went back downstairs to the grownups. 

Downstairs, Rhodey asked, “How are you feeling?”

Stretching, Tony said, “So much better than I have in months. I’m going to drift off easily tonight and then wake up not in pain. Rhodey, thank you, thank you.”

“This was you,” said the man.

“Bullshit, no false modesty, James,” said Tony, using the man’s name to stress his seriousness.

“You’re welcome, Tony. After twenty-six years, I don’t know who I am if I don’t have you a phone call away — just waiting to irritate me. You’re my kid brother, I was very happy to work with you in the workshop. I wasn’t going to let you die, Tones.” Tony kissed his cheek and Rhodey hugged him. 

“We synthesized vibranium,” said Tony, grinning.

“We’re going to get awards,” said Rhodey.

“You’re going to have to accept them. Y’know I don’t like being handed stuff,” said Tony. 

They got an early night, needing to be at the airport by five. It was a pleasure to curl up with Edwin that night, nothing hurt and he could breathe. When Edwin did his usual starfish act in the night, Tony didn’t wake up when his sharp little heel dug into his side. Tony woke up with Edwin in the absurd position and brushed his teeth and pulled on flip flops. Happy came to gather the bags and handed Tony his coffee, “Thanks, Hap.” 

“Ready to go when you are, boss.”

Tony gulped down his coffee and said, “Let me grab him. I’ll be down in a minute.” Once Happy was gone, Tony gently wrangled Edwin’s feet into slippers and added a cardigan over his son’s PJs. He gathered the Iron Teddy and extra dummies and carried Edwin downstairs. If Edwin slept on the plane, it would help him stay up later, of course, the time difference would help with that too. Rhodey and Natasha were dressed and he said, “We have a five hour flight, I’m staying in my sweats and going right back to sleep.” 

They got to the plane and Tony said, “You don’t need to keep your voices down. Win and I can sleep through everything. See you in a couple hours.” He buckled in and secured Edwin before passing out. He woke up when Edwin started wriggling. Looking at his watch he saw it had been an hour and a half. “Hey, Win, did you sleep well?” Edwin nodded. “Wanna get dressed and eat some breakfast?” He nodded again. Tony took him into the plane’s spacious bathroom to brush his teeth and hair and discard his dry Pull-Ups with a high five. He dressed them both quickly and did his own hair saying, “I’ll fix my goatee when we get in our tuxes. Are you excited to wear a tux and hear Elon Musk and have a waffle?” 

“Love science an’ waffles,” agreed Edwin. 

They ate fruit and Tony made omelets, having gotten good at them as they were an easy dinner when he’d gotten halfway okay at cooking. They all had omelets and everyone explaining to Edwin why Elon Musk was cool. When they landed their bags were quickly taken to the mansion while they headed over to the Expo. 

The spent the day walking around, visiting the different exhibits. They ate different foods and Tony said, “When this Expo opened in 1974, I spent days and days walking around the exhibits with Grandad Edwin, Grandma, Nanny Ana and Nanny. The very first night we were here, we had Belgian Waffles. All that science, all the exhibits, all the excitement: it was one of my happiest childhood memories. We’re going to stay here for two weeks and have such fun while Aunt Pepper does tons of work and you, me and Uncles Rhodey and Happy get to play. Nanny and Aunt Share are coming up too.” 

They had so much fun but, right before they were to go on stage and already in their tuxes, Edwin started to cry, “Don’ wanna go out, Daddy. Wanted waffles but… don’ wanna.” They were already backstage and Pepper had gone to do business things so they were just with Happy, Rhodey and Natasha.

Tony cuddled him close and said, “Baby, the waffles aren’t dependent on you coming out. We’re gonna get waffles, no matter what. You don’t have to go on stage. Don’t worry. I’ll go out there and introduce Elon Musk. Are you excited to see his presentation?” Edwin nodded, face snotty, Tony dried his face with his handkerchief and promised, “Everything is fine, baby, no more stress.” It was about to be time and he said, “You okay here with aunt and uncles?”

Edwin held his arms out to Rhodey, who took him happily. Old fashioned music started playing and Tony slapped on his patented giant, open-looking smile on as the old recording blared, “Make way, make way: tomorrow's heading our way. Make way, make way: tomorrow's coming today. Oh, a bright new morning is dawning, make way for tomorrow today. Yes a new tomorrow's a morning, to light up a great new day.” Tony could remember the words from when his dad had first commissioned it. 

He smiled as the music died down, people were screaming, “One month ago, we welcomed you to the first Stark Expo in thirty-six years. Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to explore the pavilions, eat new foods, make new friends. If not, you’ve still got eleven months. Tonight it is my pleasure to announce that we are getting to the meat of this fare: we’re kicking off the presentations. I thought about flying in in the suit. But, tonight isn’t about Iron Man: it’s about history and the future. I had a plan. My son and I were going to come out in matching tuxedos. I was going to show you this picture,” A giant screen lit up with a photo of him, in Mr. Jarvis’ arms in front of the GE Pavilion, both of them grinning. There was a general “aww” noise. He smiled and said, “And then I was going to show you this picture,” another giant screen lit up with a picture from earlier in the day of him and Edwin outside the same building, now the Isodyne Pavilion. There was more “aww”s from the audience. “I was going to talk about how, thirty-six years later, the tomorrow that song speaks of is still today!” People screamed at his words, “Each day we hear of new technology, new innovation, new discoveries. The world is at our fingertips and that tomorrow is on display here,” there was more cheering, “still being built, created, written. It’s here for you and the presentations and demonstrations you will see on this stage are the building blocks of that tomorrow.” People cheered and as they calmed down he said, “I was going to say all that, but then my two-year-old had a meltdown backstage. He’s such a showoff and flirt that I thought he would love it but he got stage fright.” The crowd started laughing at Tony’s perfect delivery. Tony smiled at them. “Thankfully, the man behind tonight’s presentation needs no lengthy introduction so I can get back to Win. I don’t need to build up the speaker or explain who he is. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, get pumped and welcome Elon Musk.” Elon came out and they gave each other a warm embrace. Tony exited quickly as people were cheering. 

Smiling at the crowd, Elon said, “You’re missing out, guys. I just saw Win back stage: that toddler knows how to rock a tux.” 

Tony accepted Edwin back from Rhodey and they all settled into chairs backstage to watch the demo from an angle the public could only dream of seeing. Pepper came a couple of minutes from the end, with perfect make up and smiled at them before heading out to meet Elon, shake his hand and thank him. She reiterated that there were still eleven months and so many more presentations. 

Elon and she same back and Edwin said, “Misser Musk? Wanna waffle wi’ me?”

“I don’t know if Mr. Musk has time, baby, but you are welcome, Elon. We’re going to have Belgian waffles for dinner,” Tony left Elon space to bow out, knowing some people didn’t like toddlers. 

“I’d love to join you,” said Elon. The group headed over to the Belgian waffles and without his booster, Edwin ate in Tony’s lap. Sitting at the round tables outside the Belgian waffle stand, Tony was nigh on positive that his life couldn’t get any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have enjoyed this. I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments make me so happy! And, I really appreciate kudos, especially as a lot of people decide whether or not to read something based off kudos . 
> 
> We are just getting started with this universe, friends. Next up, it's The Avengers but with a healthy Tony Stark. That starts in two weeks! Until then, let me know what you thought of this!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments and always appreciate kudos!


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